WINDHOEK- Minister of Labour Relations and Employment Creation Erkki Nghimtina yesterday opened a two-day workshop on employment creation that will dialogue on possible interventions for creating employment in different sectors of the economy.
The workshop, a brainchild of the High Level Panel on the Namibian Economy (HLPE), in collaboration with the labour ministry and the International Labour Organisation, provides a unique opportunity to meet the challenge of creating sustainable and decent employment in the country in the short- medium- and long terms.
The workshop brings together key stakeholders such as the private sector representatives, government, employer representatives, the trade unions, educators, trainers, researchers and experts.
Addressing delegates at the opening of the workshop, Nghimtina said the workshop should not be simply an event, but an unstoppable process to which everyone commit.
“The opportunity is unique, in the first instance, because the private sector has declared its readiness to assume its critical role to contribute to concrete solutions.”
“The opportunity is also unique, because the workshop is organised in a way that recognises that employment creation is a multi-sectoral national project that has many different components and requires strong coordination to succeed,” added Nghimtina.
He said recognising that employment cannot be created in silos, government will sit together without breaking away into small groups to listen to each other and to consider concrete proposals for employment creation based upon diverse perspectives and experiences.
“This is true social dialogue. I thank the high level panel for creating this opportunity pursuant of the mandate that it has been given by our Head of State Dr Hage Geingob,” said the minister of labour.
In his welcoming remarks, co-chairperson of the Employment Creation Workshop Professor Kenneth Matengu said the main objective of the workshop is to identify bottlenecks in terms of policy, education and training incentives including legislation or otherwise that hinders employment creation in the country.
He said it is further aimed to understand the state of unemployment in Namibia and agree on the imperatives for the future of work with appreciation of artificial intelligence, ICTs and the 4th Industrial Revolution with the objective to agree on job creation interventions.
In addition, he said the aim is to discuss and agree on actions that should be taken to address labour productivity concerns as well as achieve consensus on job creation interventions required in the short term.