ILO conducts enterprise formalization training in Suriname

Reducing informality among Suriname’s enterprises has been earmarked as an important outcome of its current Decent Work Country Programme (DWCP). To help tripartite policymakers achieve this objective, the ILO and Ministry of Labour, Employment and Youth Affairs recently hosted a workshop to develop strategies for establishing more effective pathways for businesses to enter the formal economy.

Hosted on Wednesday 20 March and Thursday 21 March 2024 in Paramaribo, “Enterprise formalization: constraints and opportunities”, drew over thirty tripartite officials from the Government, the De Vereniging Surinaams Bedrijfsleven (VSB), De Associatie van Surinaamse Fabrikanten (ASFA) and De Raad van Vakcentrales in Suriname (RAVAKSUR).

Sessions focused on enabling enterprise formalization for sustainable tourism as well as wood-processing - two key sectors characterized by high levels of informality and vulnerability for both employers and workers.

“Both industries have also been prioritized by Suriname’s DWCP as having significant potential for contributing to green job growth. Through enterprise formalization, workers and businesses in sustainable tourism as well as wood-processing and forestry can lower decent work deficits and increase productivity to strengthen livelihoods in the rural areas,” explained John Bliek, Specialist for Sustainable Enterprise Development and Job Creation, ILO Decent Work Team and Office for Caribbean. "For this purpose, it is important to analyze what incentives can mobilize MSMEs to become formal and to look closer at the different procedures and bottlenecks."

Day One of the workshop featured remarks by the Honourable Steven Mac Andrew, Minister of Labour, Employment and Youth Affairs, followed by a presentation and discussion based on national-level research of enterprises. Participants also validated findings to determine a roadmap towards formalization. On Day Two of the workshop, they collaborated through interactive activities to identify and develop the elements of this roadmap into potential pilot programmes for enterprise formalization in the two target sectors.

"Suriname has a large informal sector, but in order for the country to effectively develop policies, the first step is to map out all of this. Formalizing the informal sector is a significant challenge, but not one we should shy away from, and therefore incentives are important to attract the 'informal group' towards the 'formal side'," said Jason Menso, Acting Head of International Affairs at the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Youth Affairs.

A subsequent report will be presented to the stakeholders, with the roadmap latest June 2024. Parallelly the different stakeholders will start to work on the different enterprise formalization strategies, including awareness raising in the villages of the ecotourism and wood-processing sectors in the targeted villages.

The ILO, in its role as a technical partner of the DWCP, will continue to provide technical support to the Government and social partners to facilitate enterprise formalization through these pilots, and appropriate and well-coordinated strategies, legislation, policies and compliance mechanisms.