On Monday, June 9, the Director General of the Cyprus Employers and Industrialists Federation (OEB), Michalis Antoniou, had a private meeting with the Director General of the International Labour Organization (ILO), Mr. Gilbert Houngbo.
At the meeting, which was held in a particularly warm climate, the DG of the OEB described the data on the efforts to reform the pension system, to modernize the ATA, to formulate a scientific formula for the determination of the National Minimum Wage and analyzed the positions of the OEB on these.
Mr. Antoniou referred to the long-standing practical support that Cyprus enjoys from the ILO and its decisive contribution to the formation of Fundamental Institutions of the labour market, trilateral cooperation and the country’s industrial relations system.
Mr. Antoniou made special reference to the Higher Institute of Technology (ATI), which was founded and operated with technical and financial assistance from the ILO and provided blood for decades to Cypriot companies with excellent executives during the years of the establishment and development of the country’s economic activity.
The ILO DG assured the OEB DG that the know-how and guidance of the International Organization is always at the disposal of Cyprus to be utilized in any effort to modernize institutions related to employment and the labor market in our country.
The meeting, which lasted half an hour, was also attended by the Senior Officer of Labour Relations and Social Policy of the OEB, Mr. Polyvios Polyviou, and two of the collaborators of the ILO DG.
Earlier in the day, the DG OEB, in his speech before the plenary session of the ILO International Labour Conference, referred to the challenges and opportunities of artificial intelligence and the evolution of technology, noting that they have the ability to push humanity into a new era of prosperity, provided that the social partners accept the need for change and adaptation. Mr. Antoniou stressed that outdated regulations and practices can only remain relevant if the parties involved agree to reform and modernize them.
In the photos, Mr. Antoniou with his DG ILO Mr Gilbert Houngbo and on the podium of the plenary session of the Session.
