ZAGREB FORUM OF S-E EUROPEAN EMPLOYERS ADOPTS FINAL DOCUMENT

ZAGREB, Feb 7 (Hina) - A conference of the South Eastern Europe Employers' Forum (SEEEF), held in Zagreb on Tuesday and Wednesday, ended with the adoption of a final document. The meeting was organised by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the Budapest Department for Central and East Europe and the Croatian Employers' Association (HUP). The conference tackled the improvement of social dialogue and conditions for doing business in the region. The conference was part of preparations for a meeting to be held as part of the Stability Pact in Budapest on February 19/20, focusing on an initiative for social cohesion in the Stability Pact countries. Attending the meeting, the fourth of that kind, were employers from Albania, Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia, and, for the first time, from Yugoslavia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Present at the forum was also a representative from the ILO in Geneva. The document outlines the priorities of employers' associations in South-East Europe in the creation of new jobs. In that context, the meeting discussed a project of cleaning the Danube, which, according to ILO data, could help employ as many as seven million people. The attendants believe it would be possible to create a significant number of jobs in projects regarding the reconstruction of power, traffic and telecommunications infrastructure. The participants agreed that economic cooperation in the region could be improved by removing customs obstacles and facilitating the movement of business people throughout the region. They also emphasised the importance of strengthening bilateral and trilateral relations among social partners as well as their integration into national programmes aimed at creating new jobs, the HUP reported. (hina) rml