Education is one of the key elements in ensuring that the labour force is able to avail itself of decent work opportunities, said Malta Employers’ Association director-general Joseph Farrugia recently.

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) needs to channel more resources into skills development programmes, as these are essential tools in the fight against poverty, he added.

Mr Farrugia was addressing delegates at the 95th session of the ILO in Geneva this week.

He congratulated the ILO’s director-general for the results achieved in each of the major strategic objectives of the organisation’s work agenda.

One of the report’s objectives is the provision of a context for debate on the institutions and policies required to create job opportunities and reduce the uncertainty caused by rapid change, he added.

Malta is passing through a phase of rapid economic restructuring, said Mr Farrugia.

“The pace of economic transformation has been the result of accession to the EU, the need to meet fiscal criteria to introduce the euro as our currency at the beginning of 2008, and also due to a pressing need to build a competitive economy that can survive and grow in an aggressive global competitive environment.”

In the last few years, Malta has experienced a loss of jobs in areas of low value-added manufacturing, balanced by foreign investment in sectors with a higher skill content.

However, said Mr Farrugia, the success of this transition depends on the input of all the social partners and on social dialogue.

“We fully support and actively participate in tripartite dialogue on key policy issues, and believe that the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development can be more influential in promoting the principles of decent work in Malta,” he said.

Mr Farrugia called for more educational programmes that focused on developing entrepreneurship skills as a means of generating productive employment.

Maltese employers are calling for the allocation of more resources to education, he said.

Structural funds from the European Union need to be channelled into upgrading the human resource to avoid structural unemployment, and labour market policies are needed to address the possibility of a brain drain.

It is the belief of Maltese employers, said Mr Farrugia, that the ILO has a specialised function and must not deviate from its primary role of encouraging enterprise, and developing the infrastructure to generate productive and decent employment opportunities for all.