Annual Report 2009 - Asian Productivity Organization

ORGANIZATION
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focus confined to the public and private sector had
now been extended to embrace schools and communities.
As an indicator of the progress made by the
NPS, he referred to the National Productivity Award
Ceremony, which had gained popularity and expanded
to the provincial level.
Recognizing the contributions made by the APO in
supporting productivity promotion through various
activities, he said that the theme of the 51st session of
the Governing Body, “Productivity Improvement and
the Global Financial Crisis,” was timely. He stressed
the necessity to distinguish between short-term adjustments
to respond to the immediate crisis and ensuring
long-term efficiency of the economy.
Opening Address
Acting APO Chair and APO Alternate Director for
the Islamic Republic of Iran Dr. Mahmood Ghanizadeh
expressed gratitude to the Prime Minister of the
Government of the Democratic Socialist Republic of
Sri Lanka, Ratnasiri Wickramanayaka, and Minister
Athauda Seneviratne for attending the inaugural
session and hosting the meeting. He said that the APO
had been adapting to changing times since its founding,
but had never faced such tremendous challenges as
those brought about by the current global economic
crisis, which put major global economies in deep
recession. He stressed that the APO should perform
its catalytic role to propagate innovative ideas and to
facilitate retooling of the retrenched labor force and
upgrading the skills of those still employed for higher
levels of efficiency and productivity. He suggested that
the APO refocus and recalibrate its programs to give
more attention to the most urgent and strategic needs
of member countries.
APO Alternate Director for IR Iran Dr. Mahmood Ghanizadeh
delivering the Opening Address
Dr. Ghanizadeh thanked all delegates for the honor
and support given to the Islamic Republic of Iran’s
term as the APO Chair. He urged all to provide full
support to the new Chair and the Secretary-General in
dealing with the many challenges that lay ahead.
Inaugural Address
Minister of Labour Relations and Manpower Athauda
Seneviratne of Sri Lanka said that the topic of productivity
and the global financial crisis as the main theme
of this session of governing body were very appropriate
and the APO’s role in the context of productivity
enhancement was vital. Sri Lanka was expecting 5%
annual productivity growth during the next couple of
years, for which a Presidential Task Force for Productivity
Improvement had been formulated in line
with the national development agenda called Mahinda
Chinthana.
He introduced the results of research by the International
Institute of Labour Studies which stated that
nearly 90 million new jobs would be needed in the
2009–2010 period to absorb new entrants to the labor
market. He requested the meeting to focus its discussions
on how member countries could cooperate with
each other and coordinate their efforts to tackle the
crisis by creating new decent work opportunities and
sharing productivity gains.
Minister Seneviratne noted that during the past few
years Sri Lanka had been able to obtain substantial
assistance from the APO to enhance the capacity of
the NPS, which eventually led to the improvement
of numerous schools and private- and public-sector
institutions, contributing to higher productivity. He
also acknowledged that several programs of the APO
such as demonstration company projects, TES, and
multicountry OSMs had led to a significant improvement
in the country’s productivity campaign.
Sri Lankan Minister of Labour Relations
and Manpower Athauda Seneviratne
giving the Inaugural Address
Minister Seneviratne reported that as a large section
of the country’s economic entities were SMEs, the