UAE hosts virtual meetings of Abu Dhabi Dialogue

The meetings began, on Monday, and will run until 27th May, under the chairmanship of the UAE, with the participation of over 200 senior officials representing relevant authorities from the dialogue’s member states, along with various experts and representatives of the private sector and international organisations.

The meetings are being held to prepare for the sixth meeting of ministers representing the dialogue’s member states, which will take place in the fourth quarter of 2021.

The ADD, which was launched in 2008, is a platform for consultations and exchanging ideas and best practices on key issues related to encouraging partnerships and boosting the development benefits from the movement of workers between sending and host countries in Asia and the Pacific region, comprising 16 nations.

Abdullah Al Nuaimi, Assistant Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation for International Communication and Relations, stated that labour market policies should be prioritised in the future cooperation between member states.

In his opening speech, he said, "We are approaching a new phase of economic growth, coinciding with major changes to labour markets resulting from new technologies and the growing role of women within their communities."

He also stressed the importance of promoting cooperation between the dialogue’s member states in drafting mutual visions on the topics for discussion.

The meetings will discuss various issues and action papers, including the key trends in the labour markets of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and how to address the related repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic on labour in these countries.

Research studies listed on the agenda of the meetings, which were prepared by prominent experts and scholars, highlight the fact that the GCC’s strategies for diversifying their economies will lead to a decline in the focus on industries that largely depend on workers, which will result in various outcomes, such as a surge in demand for new skills, most notably in information and communication technology, engineering and mathematics.

The meetings will witness the appointment of the dialogue’s new president, which will succeed the UAE in 2022.

The Abu Dhabi Dialogue (ADD) was established in 2008 as a forum for dialogue and cooperation between Asian countries of labour origin and destination. The ADD consists of the twelve Member States of the Colombo Process (CP).

As a state-led Regional Consultative Process (RCP), the ADD aims to enable safe, orderly and regular labour migration in some of the world’s largest temporary labour migration corridors. Through multi-lateral dialogue and cooperation on the joint development of labour mobility-related programming, implementation, and reporting, the ADD helps to ensure that Member States develop partnerships for adopting best practices, and are in a position to learn from one another’s experience. Civil society has been invited to contribute to the dialogue and in recent years to partner in realisation of some of the programme areas.