Contact Us Links 中文
HOME > Major Events
Speech at the Seminar on Liberian Labour Law and Practice
2018-05-09 05:33
 

Honorable Assistant Minister Togba Porte and dear friends from Liberian Labor Ministry,

Respected managers, Liberian and Chinese employees of Chinese Companies in Liberia,

Dear friends from the Liberian Media,

Good Morning!

I have the pleasure to welcome all of you to the Seminar on Liberian Labor Law held by the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the Republic of Liberia and Ministry of Labour of the Republic of Liberia. Since my arrival in Liberia, I find that every one is talking about His Excellency President Weah's "Pro-Poor Agenda" which puts the Road Connection, Health Care, Education and Youth Empowerment as its top priorities. I myself believe that if implemented successfully, it will surely promote the development of Liberia. I am also glad that Chinese government and Chinese companies in Liberia have been supporting Liberian efforts in the above sectors.

 

 

For the road connection, China Henan International Cooperation Group and Chongqing International Construction Cooperation have helped Liberia for building high quality paved roads which are praised by World Bank and Liberian government.

For health care, China has been sending medical teams to Liberia since 1970s, and helped Liberia to fight for the Ebola impact two yeas ago. Recently, I have signed an agreement with the Liberian Foreign Ministry for setting up a clinical laboratory in JFK Hospital.

For Education and Youth Employment, China has helped Liberia by building a Campus for the University of Liberia and a Technician and Vocational Center. Under the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, China has provided hundreds of scholarships to Liberian youths and trained thousands of Liberian Youths with practical skills. For responding to the Pro-poor agenda, this year China will provide more than 200 training opportunities including scholarships for Master and PHD study to Liberian Youths.

 

 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In empowering youth, producing revenue, increasing employment, delivering public service, fostering entrepreneur spirit and bringing sustainable development, the Enterprises have been playing an important role. As I know, around 20 Chinese Companies in Liberia have employed more than 1000 local employees and contributed a lot to the Liberian economy and society. My colleagues and I myself have always been encouraging Chinese companies in Liberia to comply with Liberian law, attach importance to environmental protection, respect Liberian custom, treat their employees well and feed back to the local communities around their projects.

I am glad that most of the Chinese companies are doing well in these regards. For example, the China's Bamboo and Rattan team has trained 700 local young people, the Agriculture Technology Demonstration Center recently helped a local community grow 6.5 hectare rice and got a very good harvest. The China Railway Cooperation joined hands with Chinese medical team to spend US$30,000 for freely treating 3000 local people. Even though losing money due to the price decline of iron ore, China Union still sent two Liberian medical technicians to China for training.

 

 

Dear friends,

The modern management theory thinks that the employers and employees are mutual beneficial partners. The company's success depends on the loyalty and hard work of its employee, and in return the companies development can bring more benefits to its employees. I am glad that Chinese companies in Liberia have been attaching importance to the on-job-training, quite a lot of Liberian employees have learned the skills to run the engineering equipment and become technicians, team leaders and members of the managing team.

I strongly believe that the companies in Liberia and the Liberian government are also mutual beneficial partners. The companies should comply with Liberian labour policies and the Liberian government should protect the lawful rights of the companies. I appreciate that President Weah announced that Liberia welcome investors in his inauguration speech. I hope that Liberian Labor Ministry could be kind to take concrete measures to encourage investors to invest more in Liberia. It should not only punish the investors who violate the labour policy, but also guide them to comply with the labor law.

 

 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

For supporting the Pro-poor agenda and strengthening the mutual understanding between the Liberian Labor Ministry and Chinese companies in Liberia, the Chinese Embassy has the pleasure to invite Honorable Assistant Minister Togba Porte to give a lecture on Liberia Labor Law and its practice to the managers of Chinese companies and their employees. During today's Seminar, we will also reward some outstanding employees both local Liberian and Chinese who have worked hard for the development of Liberian and their companies. I hope they can set up a good example to their colleagues and contribute more to the prosperity of Liberia as well as their company.

Finally, I sincerely hope this Seminar becomes a new start for strengthening the understanding between the employees and the companies and also the friendly collaboration among Chinese Embassy, Liberian Labor Ministry and Chinese companies!

 

 

Thank you for your attention.


[Suggest to a Friend]
     [Print]