Photo: Many overseas guests were in attendance. (16th, Tokyo)

JILAF will welcome its 10th year in this May. On the 16th, approximately 200 participants gathered at Sohyo-Kaikan in Tokyo, where JILAF (Japan International Labor Foundation) held a symposium commemorating its 10th anniversary. Reports on development cooperation activity conducted by National Centers of European countries and the United States were presented at the symposium. Further, National Center Leaders from Asian countries held panel discussions on current labor conditions under the current Asian economic crisis, the direction of future movements, and the anticipation of development cooperation.

President Shimizu of JILAF expressed his resolution in the opening speech.
"With your cooperation, JILAF's business has been steadily growing, yielding results and becoming an organization that over the past ten years has fostered trust and expectation from labor unions in developing countries. However, our development cooperation organizations still lag behind those of western labor unions. JILAF will continue to work step by step in hopes of serving a meaningful role as the NGO founded by RENGO for social development and international cooperation."

After that, President Washio of RENGO, JILAF's parent organization, stood to address the crowd. He stated, "JILAF's activities are essential for the Japanese labor movement to contribute to world peace and the security of workers' rights. RENGO will give JILAF its unqualified support for future expansion and also wishes to invite others to support all the parties concerned."

Three sessions at the symposium had the theme "Labor Unions and Development Cooperation in Economic Crisis." The first session included reports on development cooperation organizations and their activities run by western National Centers. The second and third sessions included panel discussions with guests from overseas, RENGO President Washio and JILAF President Shimizu. Guests included General Secretary Takashi Izumi of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions/Asia and Pacific Regional Organization (ICFTU-APRO), Secretary General M. Zahoor Awan of the All-Pakistan Federation of Labour, Secretary General Lee Nam-soon of the Federation of Korean Trade Unions, and Secretary General G. Rajasekaran of the Malaysian Trades Union Congress.
The symposium closed by adopting the appeal: "Labor Unions and Development Cooperation in Economic Crisis."

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