Equatorial
Guinea Holds Inaugural Labor Conference
The Government of Equatorial
Guinea held its first Labor Conference to address labor issues as part of
its efforts to move toward a sustainable economy. Teodoro
Nguema Obiang Mangue, Second Vice
President, in charge of National Defense and State Security, promised a
change in labor relations and improved training for Equatoguineans. The
conference took place in the Sipopo Conference Center located in the capital
city of Malabo, from September 29 to October 1.
Second
Vice President Obiang Mangue addressed the problems of the workers and the
situations suffered by young people during their job search process. “The purpose of this First Labor Conference
is to achieve satisfactory results for workers and those who are unemployed.
The constant demand for employment by Equatoguineans has prompted me to look
for strategies to try to be the voice of those without voice. The presence of
members of the Government and other agencies here is to provide input on the employment
issue to improve the country,” said the Second Vice President.
In his speech, President
Obiang Nguema Mbasogo said that “the
development process in Equatorial Guinea is complex and difficult, because it
is not about developing labor techniques drawing on the experiences of
developed countries, nor adopting the laws by comparative principle, in order
to create conditions favorable to workers. We are facing the need to analyze in
depth what Equatorial Guinea has been in the past, the present and what it
aspires to be in the future.”
“We must
analyze and understand what we have in the productive sector, the ability to
increase this sector and the effectiveness of available workforce, as well as
the possibilities of its increase in the future in order to achieve an
approximation of the employment systems and labor regulations that suit our
country. Equatorial Guinea is a country that has begun its journey of
development without any financial means,” continued Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, “and it has been difficult to get foreign
capital established in the country, which has cost and continues to cost
sacrifices to the developing economy, because of the lack of national businessmen
in the country and the lack of technicians and specialists.”
The Labor
Conference is one of Teodoro
Nguema Obiang Mangue’s initiatives as Second Vice President.
