Kathmandu. KATHMANDU: The Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) and International Labour Organization (ILO) have pledged to make collaboration between the two sides more effective in making labour market reforms, job creation, skill development, entrepreneurship and social dialogue more effective.

The meeting between FNCCI President Anjan Shrestha and ILO Nepal Country Director Numan Ozkan at the FNCCI Secretariat, Teku on Thursday stressed on making the long-term strategic partnership more institutionalized and result-oriented to translate the shared priorities into concrete results.

Anjan Shrestha, president of the federation, said that the long association with ILO has contributed to strengthen Nepal’s labour market, entrepreneurship development and social dialogue. The Finance Minister pointed out the need for expansion of enterprises, improvement in living standard of labourers and creating employment opportunities for youths at home, saying private sector is not only a major source of investment and economic growth.

“Migration of youths, imbalance between skill and employment, labour shortage and low productivity are the major challenges for Nepal. “There is a shortage of required human resources in production-based industries, construction, tourism and agriculture, among others,” he said. In this situation, there is a need to increase investment in skill development, modern technology, occupational safety and health, and continuous upgrading of manpower. ”

Stating that Nepal was in the phase of graduation from the least developed country (LDC) status, he stressed on the need of preparing enterprises and workers for competition on time, he insisted on the need of a tech-friendly but labour-friendly policy at a time when digital platforms, artificial intelligence, automation and green transition were changing the nature of work.

Stating that the newly elected leadership of FNCCI has forwarded a reform line based on six strategic pillars and 60 priority actions, Shrestha said investment promotion, policy advocacy, employment and productivity, innovation, sustainable development and global partnership have been prioritized.

President Shrestha said that significant achievements have been made in women entrepreneurship, employment service, grievance management, employment participation in private sector and upgradation of LDCs from various projects supported by ILO.

ILO Nepal Country Director Numan Ozkan expressed his commitment to continue collaborating with FNCCI for business growth and job creation. He stressed the need for collaboration among the ILO, the FE, the government and other stakeholders to address the new challenges such as the informality of the labour market, platform economy, climate change and skills imbalance.

On the occasion, FNCCI vice-president and Employers Council President Prabal Jung Pandey stressed that labour law reform process should be inclusive, transparent and based on genuine tripartite social dialogue.

He stressed on the need of skill mapping to link the skills of the returnees with the needs of the domestic industries, international labour standards in the context of LDC upgrading and capacity development for compliance, and a clear policy on the new labour relations of the platform economy such as ride-hailing and delivery services.