30 Sep 2024 Prospects for Development of EAEU Common Labor Market Discussed in Yerevan The Eurasian Economic Forum in Yerevan hosted the thematic session Common Labor Market: Development Prospects, which brought together leading experts from the Eurasian Economic Union countries. The session was attended by representatives of the Ministries of labor and social protection, business associations, trade unions of the EAEU states, and international organizations. They discussed the issues of forecasting labor market needs, skills recognition, cross-border professional development, the role of public organizations, as well as health care for migrant workers and their families. The session was moderated by Bakhyt Sultanov, Minister in charge of Economy and Financial Policy of the Eurasian Economic Commission. The Minister stressed that the law of the Union simplified the process of interstate employment and enabled legal and safe labor migration to the EAEU. "Within the common labor market, the Union addressed the issues of pension benefits for workers, is creating useful digital services for interstate employment, eliminated exemptions in recognition of certificates of education of teachers and lawyers, as well as academic degrees, and is discussing prospects for simplification of administrative procedures in the host country," the EEC Minister noted. The average annual flow of labor migration within the EAEU is about one million people. The largest number of migrant workers are engaged in construction (23% or 230,000 people), wholesale and retail trade (15% or 150,000 people), transportation and storage of goods (8% or 80,000 people), manufacturing (5% or 50,000 people) and agriculture (2% or 20,000 people). "We plan to scrutinize all the proposals and initiatives that have been voiced at the session. Our goal is to improve the functioning of the common labor market and make the Union more attractive for labor migration," summarized Bakhyt Sultanov.
26 Jun 2024 EEC supports regional and country cooperation on public health issues Altynai Omurbekova, Director of the Eurasian Economic Commission's Department for Labor Migration and Social Protection shared her experience in health protection for migrant workers in the Eurasian Economic Union at the Central Asia International Health Investment Forum held in Bishkek. The Forum was attended by representatives of Central Asian countries, including the EAEU Member States, United Nations agencies, and European Union institutions, development agencies, regional and international structures, development banks, and other organizations. The event participants discussed such issues as increasing investments in healthcare, promoting the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals related to communicable- and noncommunicable- disease control, and protecting the health of migrant workers. “Increased labor migration flows in the EAEU necessitates closer interaction between the relevant authorities of the Union countries in order to strengthen and protect public health and solve the issues of providing medical care to workers and members of their families,” Altynai Omurbekova noted. The Director of the EEC Department informed the Forum participants about the Commission's activities to implement Strategy-2025 measures in the healthcare sector. On the Forum sidelines, Altynai Omurbekova held a working meeting with representatives of the World Health Organization (WHO) – Gundo Weiler, Acting Regional Emergency Director, and Kristina Mauer-Stender, Head of the Country Support Group. The parties agreed to enhance bilateral cooperation, in particular by establishing a dialogue between the Commission and various divisions and regional offices of WHO. An agreement was reached to hold a joint event in October 2024 in one of the EAEU countries to protect the health of migrant workers and members of their families in the state of employment. The Central Asia International Health Investment Forum was organized by the WHO Regional Office for Europe jointly with the Ministry of Health of the Kyrgyz Republic under the auspices of Sadyr Japarov, President of the Kyrgyz Republic. The EEC and the WHO develop their interaction under the Memorandum of Understanding signed on October 13, 2021 in Minsk.
EEC and UNESCAP discussed labour migration and social protection 14 Jun 2024 EEC and UNESCAP discussed labour migration and social protection The development of labour migration and social protection was discussed at an expert group consultation and seminar on "Strengthening the Evidence Base on Migration in North and Central Asia: Data, Gender Impacts and Remittances" organized by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP). Altynai Omurbekova, Director of the Eurasian Economic Commission's Department for Labour Migration and Social Protection, made a report on the status and prospects of the Eurasian Economic Union's single labour market. She noted the particular importance of cooperation between the EEC and UNESCAP:  "Our interaction opens new prospects for developing regional strategies on labour migration and social protection. The exchange of experience and knowledge helps address the challenges of the present-day world more efficiently and create more favorable conditions for all citizens of the Union countries".  The event attendees discussed the prospects for developing the EAEU remittance system, noting the need to improve the legal framework, and increase the transparency and security of money transactions. ESCAP is the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific – one of the five regional UN commissions. ESCAP is headquartered in Bangkok, Kingdom of Thailand. ESCAP is composed of 53 States (including the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic and the Russian Federation) and 9 associate members. The interaction between the EEC and UNESCAP is based on the Memorandum of Understanding signed on May 17, 2019 in Kazakhstan.
11 Jun 2024 Bakhyt Sultanov: "The Commission's objective in developing the EAEU common labor market is to make it as comfortable as possible for migrant workers" Bakhyt Sultanov, Minister in charge of Economy and Financial Policy of the Eurasian Economic Commission, took part in the 2nd International Meeting of the Global Policy Network on Recruitment of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), held on June 10-11 in Geneva.  During the visit, the EEC Minister had a meeting with Amy Pope, IOM Director General. The parties discussed a plan for implementing joint projects, in particular the Commission's participation in the IOM Global Policy Network on Recruitment, and the use of IOM experience in developing solutions for recognizing workers' skills based on comparability of qualifications. As Bakhyt Sultanov emphasized, "one of the Commission's key objectives is to work on developing a single market of labour resources and further increase the comfort of the EAEU employment".  During the visit, the Minister had also a meeting with Santino Severoni, Director of the Global Health and Migration Programme of the World Health Organization (WHO). Bakhyt Sultanov noted the high level of cooperation between the Commission and WHO: "The EEC jointly with the EAEU States has prepared a number of documents envisaged by the Strategy-2025, the development of which took into account the WHO recommendations and materials. The results of this work are reflected in the activities of the EAEU countries' public authorities and are used in preparing national strategic documents". The parties agreed to facilitate the establishment of contacts between the EEC and various divisions and regional offices of the WHO, deepen bilateral cooperation and organize joint events involving Ministers of Health of the Eurasian "five" countries. The IOM Global Policy Network on Recruitment was established by the Director General of the International Organization for Migration and the Swedish Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva on December 3, 2020. The first meeting of the Network was held on May 4, 2021. The EEC interacts with the IOM under a Memorandum signed in April 2013, as part of which they monitor the migration situation and the practice of applying migration legislation in the EAEU States, study international experience in migration management, and etc. In September 2016, the Commission was granted the Observer status in the IOM Council.
EEC discussed issues related to stay of self-employed persons from EAEU countries in Russia 15 Mar 2024 EEC discussed issues related to stay of self-employed persons from EAEU countries in Russia Questions concerning the period of stay of citizens of the Eurasian Economic Union States working in the Russian Federation as self-employed persons were considered by participants in the working group on migration under the Advisory Committee on Migration Policy under the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission. The meeting was attended by representatives of the EEC, authorized authorities of the Union countries, as well as experts on migration and social protection issues. Oleg Artamonov, Deputy Director of the Commission's Department for Labor Migration and Social Protection, said that Russia continued the experiment to introduce the special tax regime called Tax on Professional Income, under which citizens of the Union countries can register as self-employed. "According to the Federal Tax Service of Russia, over 183,000 self-employed citizens from the EAEU states were registered in the country for the first nine months of 2023," the EEC representative noted. Participants in the working group (representatives of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs) shared that if a citizen of one of the Union states working in the Russian Federation as a self-employed person had a civil law contract (including a contractor's agreement, or a contract for the purchase of services and other similar contracts), that might be grounds for extending the period of his/her stay in the territory of the Russian Federation. Following the discussion, it was decided to continue the work on developing a common approach to the mechanism for extending the period of stay of EAEU citizens who are payers of tax on professional income.