BEIJING - Labor and Social Security Minister Murat Basesgioglu attended on Wednesday the meeting of China Employment Forum in the People's Republic of China which was held by International Labor Organization (ILO) and Chinese Labor and Social Security Ministry.
Delivering a speech in ''Globalization, Restructuring and Employment Promotion'' session of forum, Basesgioglu said that rapid progress in information and communication technologies, developments in economy and employment markets and international competition's gaining different dimensions were the basic elements that determined globalization. He added that this process created important opportunities for world trade and foreign capital movements.
Besides, said Basesgioglu, negative developments such as liberalization of internal markets and their opening to international competition, decrease in economic growth speed on global level, unemployment problem's gaining new dimensions and increase in income imbalances among countries and regions have also been brought onto agenda.
Noting that changes in production styles, economies and organization structures with globalization necessitated sectors, enterprises and labor force to comply with new conditions, Basesgioglu said that preliminary factors to provide this compliance were rational education policies which coincided with changing production and technology requirements, providing flexibility in regulations and implementations and putting forth quality and productivity.
Basesgioglu said that technology and productivity were the most important two elements of employment and added that especially technology and individual capital were primary factor in increasing economic growth and life quality.
Noting that the most effective way of struggle against unemployment was to make investments to create new employments, increase capacity usage and production which meant economic growth, Basesgioglu said that appropriate macroeconomic milieu should be created to provide this.
Basesgioglu said, ''forming a macroeconomic milieu, which guarantees sustainable growth, in which there are no obstacles before free trade and competition, inflation does not deteriorate price mechanism and information and technology is sovereign, is a necessary condition for growth, investment and employment.''
Recalling that economic growth was not enough alone for struggle against unemployment, Basesgioglu said that other measures should also be taken in line with this.
Basesgioglu said that the leading measures were setting a realistic national employment policy, modernization of labor force markets and employment institutions and qualified basic and vocational education which could rapidly comply with transformation and change and last throughout life.
Noting that Turkish government attributed a special priority to those issues and thus announced 2004 as the year of struggle against unemployment, Basesgioglu said that the government carried out the necessary legal and economic arrangements to lift the bureaucratic obstacles before registered employment to support the activities of enterprises to increase investment, productivity and employment and it also encouraged entrepreneurship especially small and medium scale enterprises.
Basesgioglu said, ''our education system is being improved by taking into consideration the direct relation between employment and education. A reasonable balance is restored between flexibility and labor guarantee with the changes in labor law.''
Stressing that unemployment was a problem which could not be solved only by governments or public institutions, Basesgioglu said that public sector, private sector, unions of employee and employers, vocational institutions, non-governmental organizations and individuals should share responsibilities about this issue.
Basesgioglu said that international cooperation was important in the solution of this significant problem.
China Employment Forum will end on April 30.
(GC-AY) 28.04.2004