On May 21 in Astana, the Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan held a roundtable on “Social and labor relations in the countries of Central Asia: analysis and prospects.”
Trade union leaders of Turkey, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and well-known economists, labor experts and leaders of public opinion took part in the forum.
Within the framework of the Round Table, the analysis of the complex of social and labor issues of Central Asian countries was carried out safety and labor protection; socialization of young people, problems of decent and productive work, issues of gender equality, as well as issues of appropriate remuneration.
In his speech, Deputy Chairman of the Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan Yerlan Sairov noted that Kazakhstan willingly opens its market for companies from Central Asia. According to the Committee on Statistics of the Ministry of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan, as of March 1, 2018, about 4.2 thousand enterprises with the participation of Central Asian states were registered on the territory of Kazakhstan, more than 2 thousand of them are operating enterprises.
In connection with the expansion of economic cooperation, the issue of regulating migratory flows in our region is acute.
According to the forecasts of the International Organization for Migration, in the next ten years the supply of labor in Central Asia will grow by 4 million workers and will continue to increase after 2026.
Another problem, especially acute in rural areas, is the low level of wages, which does not allow the population to provide even the most pressing needs.
According to the forecast of 2016 prepared by the Ministry of Health and Social Development of Kazakhstan, the demand in the labor market of Kazakhstan will grow by 60,000 people annually in the next five years, with a large share of demand being created by large projects in industry and construction.
Within the framework of the Roundtable, the Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan initiative was voiced to create a trade union for migrant workers. This is a worldwide practice. Being away from the Motherland migrant worker, being in the union, will be socially protected and feel more confident.
Trade unions of Kazakhstan, in accordance with their competence and capabilities, as before, intend to put urgent issues of social and labor relations before the state bodies and increase the index of human capital in Kazakhstan.
The past round table was the second major meeting of experts of the labor market in Kazakhstan this year, organized by the Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan: on March 15, the scientific and practical conference “Labor market: global trends, problems and prospects” was held in Astana.