Enhanced SMEs can create jobs – ILO

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-The International Labour Organisation (ILO) says enhanced government support to the development of Micro Small and Medium Entrepreneurs (SMEs) can lead to the much envisaged job creation in the country.

The organization, however, says there is need to improve the environment in which SMEs are operating so as to actualize the creation of more jobs.

Speaking on behalf of ILO, Namucana Musiwa, has also attributed the lack of compliance to labour laws in the country to deficiency of information and difficult access to the relevant regulations.

She said this in Choma today at the opening of a training workshop of Micro Small and Medium Entrepreneurs (MSMEs) for the Law Growth Nexus 2 project sponsored by ILO.

Ms Musiwa said the project hopes to train about 500 MSMEs who comply with labour laws and link them to financial lending institutions which will support them to create jobs.

‘’Some of the lack of compliances by employers have been attributed to the lack of information and access to these laws whereby some people only get to know about labour laws when dragged to court,’’ she said.

She said there is need to create much needed decent jobs with social security and ensure sustainability, adding that labour laws are meant to protect employees and not to suffocate them.

Ms Musiwa said for the country to develop as a country and reach the vision 2030 on becoming a prosperous middle income country there is need to create decent jobs with social protection jobs that will sustain the livelihood of   people and MSME s are able to create such jobs with the right support.

And opening the workshop, Choma District Commissioner, Golden Nyambe, said the Patriotic Front (PF) government remains committed to the creation of decent jobs.

Mr Nyambe said the issue of creating decent jobs had been part of the national agenda for a long time but has not been actualized.

He said a number of policy interventions, including the National Employment Labour Market Policy, National Youth Policy and the Sixth Development Plan are strategies aimed at job creation, yet poor provision of employment opportunities still persist.

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