On February 6th, Canada Egypt Business Council “CEBC” hosted a special dinner at Conrad Cairo Hotel, with special guest speakers H.E. Aisha Abdel Hady, Minister of Manpower and Immigration & Mr. Mohamed Farid Khamis, Chairman, Industrial Production & Energy Committee, Shoura Assembly and Chairman, Oriental Weavers Company.

Over 160 prominent members, Ministers, Journalists and guests attended the meeting, at which they discussed the topic “Workers and Employers: Towards a Fair Relationship”.

In his opening remarks, CEBC Chairman, Mr. Motaz Raslan spoke of the Egyptian labor force requirements, the unemployment problem in Egypt and the illegal Egyptian immigrants. Raslan stated that the council has always contributed efforts to protect the rights of Egyptian migrant workers in neighboring countries especially in Canada during the Council’s annual trade mission to Canada. “With regard to the welfare of the Egyptian migrants in Canada, Mr. Raslan said “CEBC” spared no effort to protect and help them to legalize their status in Canada and to ensure their respect of the national legislation of this country”. This was done through bilateral agreements to manage and organize the migration of Egyptian labor and to explore new prospects for their employment. At the same time, despite the fact that remittances of the Egyptian labor force abroad constituted a substantial source of revenue for the economy of Egypt, Raslan added that they could not overlook the consequences of the negative impact of the migration of the Egyptian labor force reflected in the national loss of their acquired expertise and the fruits of the investments by the State in that regard.

Raslan then introduced the key note speaker H.E. Aisha Abdel Hady, who took the podium to discuss the main ministry’s goals and agreements signed between The Ministry of Manpower and Immigration (MMI) and the European Union (EU) countries which will allow suitably qualified Egyptians to live and work in the EU. “Europe suffers a shortage of labor in many sectors and allowing Egyptian workers access to the EU job market will be of mutual benefit, giving the chance to European firms to fill vacancies and helping to alleviate the problem of unemployment at home allowing the Egyptian labor to face international competition and challenges, said the minister”

Minister Aisha Abdel Hady added that these agreements concluded with the EU and the US were to train and qualify the Egyptian labor force according to requirements of the modern labor market inside and outside Egypt. The agreements aim at setting international standards which enable the employment of the Egyptian labor force in the EU countries, addressing the unemployment problem and minimizing the illegal immigration, the minister noted. This comes within the framework of the ministry’s efforts to cope with rapid changes as well as social and economic transformations on both international and local levels.

“Moreover Egypt’s efforts to protect the rights of Egyptians abroad and to promote their interests were based on the following pillars: the regulation of migration abroad, in particular linking migration policies with the State’s policies and objectives in the field of economic and social development; the provision of necessary services for Egyptian communities abroad; raising awareness of Egyptian youth to the dangers associated with illegal migration; the establishment of the post of Labor Attaché in Egyptian Embassies, particularly in countries with large Egyptian communities; providing Egyptians abroad with the requisite consular services; and organizing periodic visits by ministers to the countries hosting large numbers of Egyptian workers in order to address their problems with the relevant officials. Finally, the Government was currently considering establishing a fund to assist Egyptian workers abroad in need of emergency financial assistance, added the minister”.

In addition she elaborated that the strike incidents in Mahalla al-Kubra, factories in the Nile Delta, Kafr al-Dawar, and Shibeen al-Kum which were around 17 strikes in the public sector & 75 strikes in the private sector are not considered as a phenomena if we compare these figures with the number of industrial organizations in Egypt that exceed the 3 million units.
During his speech at the meeting, Chairman of the Industrial Production & Energy Committee at the Shoura Assembly, Mr.Mohamed Farid Khamis, called for spreading the culture of work and informing laborers of their rights and duties. It is the main role of the Ministry of Manpower and Immigration and laborers’ unions, he stressed. He also called for changing the labor law. “Egypt is keen to establish a just and comprehensive peace in the region as peace is the key element towards maintaining security and stability of all countries of the region” Mr. Khamis added.
H.E. Dr. Osman Mohamed Osman, Minister of Local Development who was attending the event noted that the financial problems of employment are the kind of problems associated with the economic growth and that Egypt had no choice but to enter the race and continue to move towards the globalization.
Dr. Osman, underlined in his speech the importance of improving human resources development as the human element is the basis of a comprehensive development process. He also said that the Egyptian economy has managed to cope up with successive international economic development over the past few years as it was incorporated into the world market in a gradual and phased-out way suitable for its growth and development. “All the development efforts in Egypt are aimed at getting out of the narrow valley to the vast Egypt territory” Dr. Osman added.
Finally, H.E. the Minister explained that the Ministry of Manpower and Immigration (MMI) has worked diligently in joint efforts with nearly all of the government sectors and trade unions to have the unemployment problem on top of their agenda, as well as working on providing around 4.5 million jobs to young people over the coming six years, in addition to granting credibility between the business sector & the labor force. This was through the mutual negotiations and fair agreements between both parties.
Following the speech of Her Excellency the Minister, there was a panel discussion moderated by Mr. Magdy Mehana, Senior Columnist, Al Masry Al Youm Newspaper, covering vital issues regarding the needs for standard academic vocational training programs that can increase the efficiency of the production of the Egyptian labor.

The Minister of Manpower and Immigration then proceeded to answer questions from the audience on a number of topics touching on strategy for developing vocational education, protecting workers’ rights, providing assistance to business sector to reinforce a fair and transparent environment between employers and workers.