Portugal will support the G20 declaration to promote quality employment through gender equality policies, a fair energy transition and consideration of the risks of artificial intelligence in the labour market.
Speaking to Lusa on Friday, the Minister of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security, Maria do Rosário Palma Ramalho, who has been participating since Thursday in the G20 ministerial meetings on employment, a forum that brings together the world’s largest economies, in the Brazilian city of Fortaleza, stressed that it was “quite significant that we managed to reach a declaration.”
The statement will focus on four main themes.
“How do policies to promote quality employment and good conditions also help promote Social inclusion, combat poverty and hunger”, the fair energy transition, not just environmental promotion “but in doing so help reduce poverty and promote social inclusion,” he said.
The remaining themes concern “equality between men and women and also inclusive work” and also the use of technologies in the labour market, “in particular, new artificial intelligence technologies, “to improve the quality of life of all people,” explained Maria do Rosario Palma Ramalho.
According to the Portuguese minister, these issues are agreed upon and “the policies of the Portuguese Government (…) also contribute to these objectives.”
Such as, he highlighted, the increase in the minimum wage, the promotion of “family conciliation policies, equality between men and women” and also the consideration of the “risks of artificial intelligence in the regulation of new forms of work“.
This G20 declaration, in which Portugal participates as an observer at the invitation of the Brazilian presidency, was defined by the Portuguese minister as “quite balanced” and about which she does not foresee “anything particularly sensitive or difficult” or that “requires particular attention or effort in terms of the policies” that the Government is implementing in the country.
The Brazilian government’s priorities for this G20 presidency are the fight against hunger, poverty and inequality, sustainable development and the reform of global governance.
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The G20 is made up of the world’s 10 largest economies: the United States, China, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, Japan, Italy, India, Brazil, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Australia, Canada, South Korea, Indonesia, Mexico, Turkey, as well as the European Union and the African Union.
Brazil, which holds the G20 presidency from 1 December 2023, has invited Portugal, Angola, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Spain, Nigeria, Norway and Singapore to observe the organization, as well as the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP).
At the invitation of the Brazilian presidency, Portugal is participating as an observer member of the G20 this year and will be present at more than 100 meetings of working groups, at technical and ministerial level, in five Brazilian regions, culminating in the Brazilian presidency with the summit of Heads of State and Government, in Rio de Janeiro, on 18 and 19 November.
Source: Observadora
