BRICS Labor Ministers to Address Employment at First Meeting

The first meeting of the Ministers of Labor and Employment of the BRICS countries will focus on the creation of quality jobs and boosting access to employment, Minister of Labor and Social Protection Maxim Topilin said on Monday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The meeting will be held on January 25-26 in the Russian city of Ufa.

"The Ufa meeting will focus on three main issues. These are [making] high-quality employment available to everyone….. facilitating job searches, and labor mobility," Topilin told RIA Novosti.

The sides will also discuss the issue of formalizing the labor market — the transition from informal to formal employment, and information interaction between the BRICS countries regarding labor and employment, he added.

Following the meeting, the participants are expected to issue a joint declaration that they intend to increase employment, enhance social protection and, in the long run, to guarantee income growth and reduce social tensions over employment, according to the minister.

BRICS is a union of five economies: Russia, Brazil, India, China and South Africa. The last BRICS summit was held in Ufa on July 9-10. During the event, the sides agreed on a number of joint projects and initiatives, including those dealing with energy, financing and investment; later on, they continued to cooperate closely in a manner of ways.