Tokyo (EFE).- The labor ministers of the G7 countries are meeting today in Kurashiki, in western Japan, to analyze the labor market and coordinate policies that help reform it in the post-covid era and in the face of demographic aging.
For their part, the Ministers of Agriculture will meet to discuss agricultural safety and sustainability.
The heads of the employment sector from Germany, Canada, the United States, France, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom, joined by the relevant representative of the European Union, began this Saturday the first of two days of meetings in which they will look for common points of view in the management of the evolution of the labor market.
As the G7 countries face shrinking and aging populations, the need to transform the labor market and invest in human capital has become a common point of discussion amid growing economic dynamism.
Help the market adjust to the post-covid era
It is expected that in this context, the Labor Ministers of the Group of Seven will exchange their points of view in this regard and seek coordinated policies that help the market to adjust to the post-covid era, which has brought about a certain transformation in it, and to improve the investment in human capital, according to Japanese sources.
To deal with demographic ageing, a pressing problem in more and more of the major global powers, the G7 ministers seek to signal the importance of further development and implementation of technology and the development of policies that favor a more inclusive labor market.
Another of the points of debate that will be on the table on this occasion is the improvement of working conditions.
It is the second consecutive G7 meeting held in Kurashiki under the Japanese presidency. The previous one took place in 2016, when the town hosted the Education meeting.
G7 Agriculture Ministers want to improve agricultural security and sustainability
The Ministers of Agriculture of the G7 countries began today in the Japanese city of Miyazaki (southwest) the first of two days of meetings in which the improvement of food security and agricultural sustainability will be central.
The meetings take place at a time marked by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, one of the largest grain producers and exporters in the world, whose activity has been affected by the war, which is causing a rise in prices that is having a particularly impact to the poorest countries.
During this weekend’s discussions, the heads of Agriculture from the Group of Seven (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States), will be joined by the industry representative of the European Union , they will discuss how to increase agricultural productivity in a sustainable way.
Concerns about the stability of food supplies due to climate change have been compounded by concerns about more recent factors such as the Russo-Ukrainian war and infectious diseases, following not so distant problems in this regard during the covid-19 pandemic.
Talk about increasing agricultural production is rarely a major topic at G7 meetings, partly because its members include some of the world’s largest exporters, such as the United States; But for Japan, a resource-poor country whose food self-sufficiency stood at a low of 38% in 2021, increasing agricultural productivity is key.