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First Strategic Partnership Forum scheduled for Friday

Government, business and labour leaders have scheduled their first Strategic Partnership Forum for Friday, March 8.

This will mark the official start of a new phase of a strategic partnership initiative that has evolved over the past two years. The initiative, announced in January, is designed to foster a collaborative, consensus building approach to advancing the socio-economic interests of Newfoundland and Labrador.

The Strategic Partnership Forum is the core of the new partnership initiative. The forum is a semi-annual meeting among labour, business and government leaders that will be chaired by Premier Roger Grimes. The forums are designed to improve communication among major players in the economy. They will also serve as a vehicle for sharing and developing common perspectives on the performance of the economy, and for identifying key areas where business, labour and government need to work together to address specific opportunities and challenges in the economy.

Earlier collaborative approaches to economic challenges have resulted in joint solutions on key issues. The Strategic Partnership Forum builds on the encouraging results of the Workers� Compensation Task Force and the review of the Labour Standards Act.

The agenda for the first Strategic Partnership Forum, agreed to by the three parties, is intended to focus initial discussions on broad province-wide issues such as an economic and demographic overview of the province. The discussions will assist the group in arriving at a consensus for focusing on more specific issues for subsequent sessions.

The concept of a government-business-labour partnership to advance the economy was raised during government�s public consultations on the Renewal Strategy for Jobs and Growth. Business and labour leaders across the province consistently advised government of their interest in exploring a more cooperative approach on economic issues. In response, government brought together a team of senior business, labour and government leaders to explore new models of cooperation. The group reviewed partnership models in several countries, including Iceland, Ireland and the Netherlands to see how this challenge has been successfully approached in these jurisdictions. The strategic partnership initiative agreed to by the three parties and announced in January has the benefit of experience and lessons learned in other jurisdictions, but is a made in Newfoundland and Labrador initiative to suit the province�s particular needs.

NOTE TO EDITORS:

A photo opportunity is available at 8:50 a.m. on Friday, Fairmont Hotel, Salons C and D, just prior to the start of the forum.

Media contact:

Carl Cooper, Office of the Premier, (709) 729-3960
Josephine Cheeseman, Industry, Trade and Rural Development, (709) 729-4570
Lana Payne, communications contact for labour, (709) 576-7276
Lori-Lee Oates, communications contact for business, (709) 726-2961

2002 03 07                         4:25 p.m.