Nepal assumed chairmanship of the Colombo Process (CP) – a regional consultative process on the management of overseas employment and contractual labour for countries of origin in Asia, on 29 March, 2017, at a ceremony held during an ambassadorial level meeting of the CP member countries based in Geneva.

Ambassador/ Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka in Geneva Ravinath Aryasinha passed the chairmanship to Ambassador/ Permanent Representative of Nepal Deepak Dhital at Geneva-based ambassadorial level meeting of the CP, read a statement issued by Permanent Mission of Nepal to the UN, other International Organizations and WTO Geneva, Switzerland, on Thursday.

The handover ceremony was held at the Headquarters of the International Organization on Migration in Geneva.

Ambassadors/ Permanent Representatives from CP Member states, Director General of IOM William Lacy Swing and other staff members of the IOM, representatives of all Permanent Missions of the CP Member States and a representative of Swiss Agency for Development and Co-operation (SDC) were present on the occasion, read the statement.

The CP is a regional consultative process established in 2003. It brings together 12 Asian labour sending countries, which include Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Pakistan, China, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Cambodia and Nepal in a member-state driven, non-binding regional consultative process on migration of facilitate dialogue and cooperation on issues of common interests and concerns relating to labour mobility.