Daily Times

SIALKOT: A one-day consultation workshop was organised by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in conjunction with Employers Federation of Pakistan (EFP) on the exploratory study “More & Better Jobs through Socially Responsible Labour Practices in Sports Goods Industry of Sialkot-Pakistan,” at Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI).

ILO Pakistan Director Ingrid Christensen also addressing on the occasion and said that the ILO had successfully launched the aforementioned exploratory study. She also added that this study would help extend the scope of the project to other vibrant sectors of the industry in Sialkot as well as other parts of the country. The purpose behind holding this consultation workshop with the tripartite stakeholders was the validation of the key findings of the study in addition to drawing an action plan for the way forward that not only addressed the identified decent work deficits but also helped boost the competitiveness of the Sialkot sports goods industry, she noted.

Enterprise Development of ILO’s Geneva office’s senior specialist, Yukiko Arai, also briefed the Sialkot business community on the tripartite deceleration on the principals concerning multinational enterprises and social policy.

She further asserted that ILO had started a multi-phased project in collaboration with the Government of Japan, in Sialkot’s sports goods industry in 2015, for the promotion of good corporate social response practices to create maximum jobs in this industry.

Employers Federation of Pakistan (EFP) President Khawaja Muhammad Nouman also spoke on the occasion and said that ILO, EFP and SCCI were all striving to generate additional jobs in Sialkot through the promotion of socially responsible labour practices among multinational enterprises (MNEs) as well as suppliers. Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) President Mansur Ahmed noted in his address, “We need to reach out to the business world showing our capabilities and potential of connecting ourselves with economic, social and moral values maintained and promoted by national and international social standards.”

Ahmed further added that Sialkot earned a sizeable foreign exchange due to the export of its products worldwide. “Sialkot exporters have demonstrated the highest degree of social responsibility by achieving self-sufficiency in our infrastructure facilities through our own collective resources,” he added. Labour Secretary, Abdul Rasheed Solangi, as well as many eminent Sialkot-based exporters, were also present on the occasion.