Government investing in modernisation of Labour Offices

Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos, inaugurating on Tuesday the Local Labour Office in Lakatamia, said ”the government is investing over CYP5 mln in reorganising and modernising the Labour Offices, through the Human Resources Programme, which is partly funded by the EU.”
President Papadopoulos said the Lakatamia Office is the first of 14 such Labour Offices scheduled to open by the end of 2007, at local and regional level. He added that queues would be something of the past and unemployed persons, registered through a computerised system, would be entitled to a personal interview for an assessment of qualifications and expertise, and would receive information on available employment opportunities.
He said the guarantee of the right to employment for all citizens was an aim high on the government’s priority list and that is why ”we have modernised and enriched our policies on employment, so that they meet the particularities of our country and the contemporary challenges of the competitive environment and the opportunities offered by our accession to the EU.”
The President pointed out that Cyprus is ”a small country, without many natural resources, heavy industries or high technology,” but could boast an excellent workforce with a high level of education, bearing its tradition and cultural heritage of three thousand years, and exhibiting ”unique adaptability, zeal and dedication to work, diligence and honesty, decency and dignity.”
Speaking at the ceremony, Minister of Labour and Social Insurance Antonis Vassiliou said the government’s employment department was supporting young people and their integration in the labour market, was facilitating the access and re-integration of vulnerable groups to the labour market, and was promoting persons with low qualifications in vocational training programmes.
Furthermore, he said, it was promoting equal opportunities and providing alternative forms of employment.
Referring to the Local Labour Offices, Vassiliou said they would be ”an open door for every citizen to the labour market and a window of communication between the state and the citizens.”
He said that at the Offices ”every unemployed person, every worker, every business can benefit from a group of modern services, which are adapted to everyone’s needs.”