Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2009, published 99th ILC session (2010)

Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122) - Panama (Ratification: 1970)

The Committee notes the report and attachments to it received in June 2009 in reply to its previous comments and the complementary report received in November 2009. The Committee expresses appreciation of the global vision of employment policies adopted by the Government in the information provided.

1. Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Coordination of employment policy with social and economic policy objectives. The Government provides information on the progress achieved between 2004 and 2008 in the implementation of the five pillars of the Strategic Vision of Economic and Employment Growth. This progress included sustained growth of the economy (11.5 per cent in 2007) and the creation of almost 150,000 new jobs, resulting in a reduction of 50 percentage points in overall unemployment, placing Panama among the countries with the greatest fall in the unemployment rate in 2008. According to the data published by the ILO in Panorama Laboral 2008, this fall was greater in relation to women’s unemployment. Positive results were also achieved in the generation of current savings and the fiscal deficit of the Social Security Fund was converted into a surplus, which made it possible to increase investment in social expenditure and in infrastructure. These investments in turn benefited vulnerable categories of the population and resulted in a fall in poverty indicators. The Government states that it has initiated the 2009–14 Five-year Programme based on development axes that include the reduction of poverty and unemployment. The Committee requests the Government to provide with its next report the policy documents adopted ensuring the continued stimulation of growth and economic development through an active policy designed to promote full and productive employment.

2. The Committee notes the training measures adopted in the context of the work for the expansion of the Panama Canal, carried out by the National Vocational Training and Human Development Skills Institute (INADEH) and the Panama Canal Authority (ACP). The Committee invites the Government to include information in its report on the employment generated by the work for the expansion of the Canal and the impact achieved by the training measures promoted by the INADEH and the ACP.

3. International trade and its labour market impact. The Government reports the essential role played by trade treaties in the development strategy adopted by Panama. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government on the tariff measures and investment schemes introduced by trade treaties. The Panama–Taiwan Free Trade Agreement has resulted in the creation of 450 new jobs and has contributed to the training of students and the transfer of technology. The Government also provides a detailed description of the Labour Cooperation Agreement concluded between Panama and Chile and of the labour chapter of the United States–Panama Trade Promotion Agreement (TPC), which includes a mechanism for labour cooperation and skills development. The Committee invites the Government to expand in its next report the information provided concerning the impact of free trade treaties on improvements in the labour market, and on the manner in which the implementation of their labour chapters contribute to the vocational and technical training of the Panamanian labour force.

4. Employment promotion and vulnerable groups. The Committee notes the transversal and inter-ministerial action taken with a view to promoting youth employment in the framework of the Youth Employment Plan and the “My First Job” programme. The Government also provides detailed information in its report on the results of the measures for the integration of persons with disabilities into the labour market through awareness raising, guidance, training and employment placement measures adopted by MITRADEL. The Committee invites the Government to provide information with its next report on the results achieved in terms of the integration into the labour market of vulnerable groups by the programmes undertaken by MITRADEL. Please also indicate whether the representatives of these categories were consulted in the design and implementation of the measures carried out.

5. Training policy and the promotion of full employment. In reply to its comments, the Committee notes the information provided on the results of the National Training Plan, 2007, in the context of which 9,286 courses were provided in the agricultural and stock-raising, industrial, commercial and service sectors, with the participation of 188,789 workers, the majority of whom were women. During the course of 2008, follow-up measures were taken for those who had completed training in priority areas. The Committee invites the Government to continue providing information on the measures adopted by the INADEH and the manner in which education and training policies are coordinated with employment policy.

6. In reply to the previous comments, the Committee notes the activities undertaken by the Labour Market Observatory (OML) with a view to identifying skill needs in the country, as well as the strategic alliances of the Observatory with other government agencies in Panama with a view to establishing an information network on future labour market trends in the country. The Committee requests the Government to provide information in its next report on the manner in which the data compiled covering the labour market has contributed to reviewing the employment policy measures adopted. Please also indicate the manner in which, “within the framework of a coordinated economic and social policy”, the social partners also participate in the process of reviewing employment policy measures.

7. Article 3. Participation of the social partners. The Committee notes the conclusion of the Tripartite Agreement for the Adoption of the Decent Work Programme in Panama, as well as the establishment of the Tripartite National Committee of the Panama Decent Work Programme and the preparation of a draft text to modernize the Basic Act respecting MITRADEL. The Committee requests the Government to provide information in its next report on the progress achieved by the Decent Work Programme in relation to employment policy. The Committee reiterates its interest in receiving information on the inclusion of representatives of the most vulnerable categories (such as those working in the rural sector and in the informal economy) in consultations on employment policy, as required by the Convention.