UAE to host permanent headquarters of "Abu Dhabi Dialogue"

Manila, April 18, 2012 (WAM) - The United Arab Emirates is hosting the permanent headquarters and the Technical Bureau of Abu Dhabi Dialogue process. Abu Dhabi Dialogue engages seven countries of labour destination namely UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia in addition to Yemen; and eleven countries of origin: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam. Japan, Singapore and Korea participate as observers. In his speech before the second meeting of the senior officials of the member states participating in the Abu Dhabi Dialogue which kicked off this morning in the Philippines capital Manila, Humaid bin Deemas, Assistant Undersecretary of the Ministry of Labour hailed the efforts of the Philippines Labour and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz in preparing and organising this second meeting of senior government officials of Abu Dhabi Dialogue member states. Following is the full speech of Assistant Undersecretary of UAE's Ministry of Labour: I would like to begin by thanking the government of the Republic of the Philippines for its kind hospitality and for the efforts that have gone into preparing for and organising this second meeting of senior government officials of Abu Dhabi Dialogue member states, here in Manila. I take this opportunity to stress the importance of the progress made by the Abu Dhabi Dialogue since the convening of the first Ministerial Consultation in the UAE capital city of Abu Dhabi in 2008; our Dialogue has not only succeeded in fostering constructive dialogue among our member countries, it has also contributed to elevating mutual trust and identifying avenues of collaboration that have concretely improved the administration of the contract employment cycle and enhance its outcomes. Perhaps the single most important achievement to date has been the recognition by countries of origin and destination that improving the developmental outcomes of labour mobility is contingent on the due consideration of the legitimate interests of all its stakeholders, that is, the worker, the employer and the respective country of origin and country of destination. This has paved the way for increased collaboration in identifying and implementing practical solutions to the problems that impede such outcomes, which, in turn, translated into joint initiatives that we will have the opportunity to further elaborate on during our meetings over the next two days. I wish to take this opportunity to express our gratitude for the trust that member governments of the Abu Dhabi Dialogue chose to place in the United Arab Emirates to lead the process over the past four years. Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished participants, Our goal remains to develop tools of bilateral and multilateral cooperation that continually improve the management of labour mobility through the exchange of expertise and the implementation of best practices, as identified in the Technical Report that we are about to finalise and the ensuing Framework of Regional Cooperation that we will submit to their Excellencies the ministers when they meet two days from now. Towards this end, I am pleased to announce that the United Arab Emirates has offered to host the permanent site of the Abu Dhabi Dialogue in our capital and that, in the course of our deliberations, we will submit for your consideration a set of guidelines for sustaining and moving the Abu Dhabi process forward, so that it is able to achieve its objectives. In closing, I wish our conference success towards laying the foundation of an exemplary management of labour mobility, from pre-employment and pre-deployment in the 11 member countries of origin, to residence in the 7 member countries of destination, to eventual return of contract workers and their successful reintegration in their home communities. I also hope that you will have the opportunity to become acquainted with a joint initiative undertaken by the UAE and India to streamline the registration and validation of employment contracts and consider leveraging the electronic contract validation system developed by our two countries to enter into similar bilateral agreements. - Emirates News Agency, WAM