Dear Comrades, dear Friends,
We are gladly inviting you to participate at the Progressive Alliance Seminar “Growth and Inclusion”, hosted by the Democratic Action Party (DAP) and co-organized by SOCDEM Asia, which will take place in Penang, Malaysia, on 25 – 26 September 2015.
At our event, we will bring together progressive participants from all over the world: from political parties through trade unions to civil society. Thereby, we provide a crucially needed forum for political discussions, networking and the exchange of experiences from actors in different world regions on the issue of growth and inclusion. With the Democratic Action Party fighting for economic and social inclusion as host of our discussions we are convinced that we have found a very appropriate partner for the examination of our seminar’s topic.
| Dear comrades and dear friends,Penang has for centuries been a place where hearts and minds from around the world meet. Exchanges of ideas, stories, cultures and commodities across borders and seas is simply the Penang way of life; this is also a place where inter- as well as intracultural friendships and families are formed and blossomed.Penang and DAP have both been successful pioneers of progressive politics inside of Malaysia, partly because of the geo-historical background of Penang, and definitely also because of the friendships built at home and abroad by DAP with comrades from the global family of left, centre-left, progressive and democratic parties and organisations over the years.The Progressive Alliance, SOCDEM Asia and DAP seminar on Growth and Inclusion, this September, is a way of DAP expressing our deepest gratitude towards the global progressive community for showing solidarity with the DAP through the years of struggles, even till now. That gratitude can be shown at no better place, than the pearl of the orient and the manifestation of the DAP’s take on governance by progressive values: Penang. On behalf of the DAP, as well as my capacity as the Chief Minister of Penang, I invite you and I welcome you to Penang, and wish you a brilliant conference and an unforgettable stay in Penang. Lim Guan Eng Chief Minister of Penang and Secretary General of Democratic Action Party |
Progressives from all over the world know that growth and inclusion are central. Too often global economic growth goes not hand in hand with economic and social inclusion. Instead we have seen in recent years an erosion of decent working conditions, lower job security, poor wages, lack of social security and union representation. All of us play a role as worker, as entrepreneur, as politician, as trade unionist or change agent and as consumer. How can we together, in these different roles, take responsibility and improve economic and social inclusion and access to decent work? At the same time we witness that the relocation of industrial production is providing a lot of jobs as well as is putting pressure on many countries to start a race to the bottom regarding standards, the role of trade unions and codetermination. And Free Trade Agreements somtimes intensify this pressure. At our seminar, we seek to comprehensively deal with the issue of growth and inclusion, to foster progressive partnerships across borders.
For more information about the seminar, please find enclosed the draft program, the technical details and the registration form.
Please register by using the registration form at the latest by 14 September 2015
Kind regards and looking forward to seeing you in Penang
