120 delegates from 11 countries attend 13th ASEAN-OSHNET Forum in Da Nang

The event marks the start of Vietnam's chairmanship of the ASEAN Occupational Safety and Health Network (ASEAN-OSHNET) for the 2026-2027 term and kicks off a broad array of regional activities running through July 9, hosted by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Participating delegates  include representatives from ASEAN member states, the ASEAN Secretariat, China, Japan, international organizations such as the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the International Association of Labour Inspection (IALI), as well as representatives of major enterprises from across the region and Vietnam.

Opening the forum, Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Cao Huy said ASEAN is home to more than 350 million workers and is one of the world's most dynamic centers for manufacturing, services and innovation.

However, alongside rapid growth, the region continues to face significant occupational safety and health challenges, including persistently high rates of occupational accidents and occupational diseases, while occupational accident insurance coverage remains limited for informal workers and platform workers.

Referring to the rapid digital transformation taking place worldwide, Cao Huy noted that it has also brought new challenges, including the protection of personal data, ethical issues surrounding the use of artificial intelligence (AI), safeguarding the rights of platform workers, and narrowing the digital divide between countries and among different groups of workers.

For Vietnam, digital transformation is one of the country's top strategic priorities. In the labor sector, the country is accelerating the development of a National Database on Occupational Safety and Health and an online occupational accident reporting portal.

It  is also studying amendments to the Law on Occupational Safety and Health and improving the Occupational Accident and Disease Insurance Fund by expanding coverage and increasing spending on prevention.

In his welcoming remarks, Vice Chairman of the Da Nang municipal People's Committee Tran Anh Tuan said the city was honored to host ASEAN and international delegates.

As a key economic, tourism and service hub in central Vietnam, Da Nang is one of Vietnam's three cities, together with Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, that joined the ASEAN Smart Cities Network at its inception, and is home to many major foreign direct investment (FDI) projects. Da Nang regards occupational safety and health as a key factor in sustainable development, noting that a smart city must first and foremost be a safe city, he added.

The 13th ASEAN-OSHNET Forum focuses on four main areas: developing a common ASEAN policy framework for the application of digital technologies in occupational safety and health in line with international standards on AI ethics and data protection; promoting the sharing of best practices among member states, particularly in the use of big data, AI and tripartite digital platforms for occupational safety governance; ensuring that digital transformation is inclusive so that informal workers, platform workers and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are not left behind; and formulating joint recommendations for submission to the ASEAN Labour Ministers Meeting to help implement the commitments set out in the ASEAN-OSHNET Action Plan 2026-2030.

The forum features four main sessions covering regional policy and governance frameworks, national experiences in digital transformation across different sectors, a business dialogue on good practices, and the adoption of joint recommendations.

The year 2026 marks a significant milestone for Vietnam within ASEAN-OSHNET. It is the third time the nation has hosted the ASEAN-OSHNET Forum, following previous editions in 2006 and 2016. Immediately after the forum, the 27th ASEAN-OSHNET Coordinating Board Meeting will be held in Da Nang on July 8-9.

Vietnam to host two key ASEAN occupational safety and health meetings

Vietnam is scheduled to host two major meetings of the ASEAN Occupational Safety and Health Network (ASEAN-OSHNET) in the central city of Da Nang from July 7 to 9, reaffirming its active role in promoting regional cooperation on safer and healthier workplaces.