BRICS labour and employment ministers discuss cooperation in Geneva

BRICS labour and employment ministers have discussed a cooperation programme as part of Russia's Presidency in 2015-2016, said Russian Deputy Labour and Social Protection Minister Sergei Velmyaikin, who is attending the 104th Session of the International Labour Conference in Geneva.

"We made a very good presentation of our BRICS Presidency regarding the labour and employment ministers meeting that will take place on 25-26 January of next year," he said.

"We outlined our approaches to the concept of Russia's Presidency and said what we will do in the foreseeable future. These events were unanimously approved and supported. Furthermore, the Chinese minister proposed holding such meetings on a regular basis," he said.

The chief priority of Russia's BRICS Presidency is the transformation of multilateral cooperation into "a full-scale mechanism of strategic and ongoing cooperation on key global political and economic issues," he said. Cooperation will also continue "in the financial, economic, social and cultural arenas."

Mr Velmyaikin said social partners, i.e., labour unions, specifically Brazilian unions, as well as employers, showed considerable interest in joint efforts.

"We stated that this is a priority of our agenda and that under the programme that we are proposing for Ufa, we will hold forums with the participation of employers and labour unions," he said.

The official noted the active role played by the International Labour Organisation in preparing the BRICS labour ministers' meeting in Ufa, the first meeting of its kind, and said he hoped the ILO leadership would attend it. An invitation to the Ufa meeting was also sent to ILO Director General Guy Ryder and International Social Security Association Secretary General Hans-Horst Konkolewsky.