Colombo Process

Published on 03 Jan 2025

•  India has assumed the chair of the Colombo
Process for 2024-26, the first time since the
forum’s inception in 2003.

• It provides an important platform for

consultations on the management of overseas

employment and contractual labour for

countries of origin in Asia.

Membership

» It comprises 12 Member States of Asia

(countries of origin of migrant workers): Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam.

»	India has been a member of the Colombo Process since its inception in 2003.
•	The process is non-binding, and decisionmaking is by consensus.

• The International Organization for Migration

(IOM) provides technical and administrative

support to the Colombo Process.

• The Colombo Process Technical Support Unit

(CPTSU), based in IOM Sri Lanka, provides

technical support to the Colombo Process in

its thematic areas of focus.

• Five Thematic Priority Areas of Colombo

Process:

✔ Skills and Qualification Recognition

Processes

✔ Fostering Ethical Recruitment Practices

✔ Pre-departure Empowerment

Orientation

and

✔ Promote Cheaper, Faster and Safer

Transfer of Remittances

✔ Labor Market Analysis

Keywords:

Srilanka Colombo Process International Organization for Migration