Pakistan assures ILO, EU to fulfill commitments regarding labour standards
Abdullah Jan
Islamabad: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, Jawad Sohrab Malik Thursday assured International Labour Organization (ILO) and European Union (EU) that Pakistan would fulfill commitments regarding compliance of fundamental labour standards including elimination child and forced labour, freedom of association and gender discrimination.
He was speaking as a chief guest at launch of ‘National Report on the General Scheme of Preferences Plus ( GSP+)’ organized by the ministry.
The SAPM reiterated that Pakistan was cognizant of the challenges regarding labour rights and committed to overcoming them.
Pakistan was on a journey to becoming an ethical and responsive global partner and the GSP+ was a critical part of that journey, he added.
He also emphasized the need of close cooperation and coordination amongst all partners to comply with international convention of labour rights successfully for uninterrupted benefits from the GSP+ status which was imperative for export of goods to EU countries.
The GSP+ is a special incentive arrangement by the European Union for sustainable development and good governance that supports venerable development countries.
The Countries grated GSP+ status are required to ratify and compliance with 27 international conventions including labour rights and the Pakistan has already ratified all these 27 core international conventions.
This has enabled Pakistan to export goods to the European Union while benefiting from reduced or zero import duties.
The event was attended by ILO Country Director to Pakistan, Geir Tonstol and Head of Rural Development and Economic Cooperation of EU Delegation to Pakistan, Dr. Stephen Langrell.
Speaking on the occasion, the Country Director ILO assured to providing technical assistance to the government in undertaking the required reforms to meet GSP+ conditionalities.
The senior officers of federal government and officers of the concerned provincial governments also attended the event.
