The aim of the Colombo Process is to provide a forum for Asian labour sending countries to:

• Share experiences, lessons learned and best practices on overseas employment.
• Consult on issues faced by overseas workers, labour sending and receiving states, and propose practical solutions for the well being of overseas workers.
• Optimize development benefits from organized overseas employment and enhance dialogue with countries of destination.
• Review and monitor the implementation of the recommendations and identify further steps for action.

The dialogues continue to evolve around three thematic foci which are:

• Protection of and provision of services to migrant workers - In particular, protecting migrant workers from abusive practices in recruitment and employment, and providing appropriate services to them in terms of pre-departure information, orientation and welfare provisions.
• Optimizing benefits of organized labour migration - This includes the development of new overseas employment markets, increasing remittance flows through formal channels and enhancing the development impact of remittances.
• Capacity building, data collection and inter-state cooperation - This includes institutional capacity building and information exchange to meet labour migration challenges; increasing cooperation with destination countries in terms of protection of migrant workers and access to labour markets; and enhancing cooperation among countries of origin.