Cooperation for sustainable employment in ASEAN

To create sustainable jobs, particularly for manual workers, ASEAN members have agreed to expand human resource development programs and policies, particularly in rural areas, and encourage the cooperation of businesses and employers.

To create sustainable jobs and a competitive workforce in the ASEAN Community, ASEAN Labor Ministers approved the Work Program for 2016-2020 and action plans of the Working Group on Progressive Labor Practices to Enhance the Competitiveness of ASEAN (SLOM-WG), the ASEAN Committee on the Implementation of the ASEAN Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers (ACMW), and the ASEAN Occupational Safety and Health Network (OSHNET). 

These documents are an important foundation for future ASEAN labor cooperation.

They also adopted a Vietiane Joint Statement titled “Transition from Informal Employment to Formal Employment Towards Decent Work Promotion in ASEAN”.  

ASEAN members have signed Mutual Recognition Arrangements in 8 occupations, whose workers account for one-fourth of the total labor force in ASEAN, targeting mutual recognition in areas that require lower skills. 

The creation of a highly competitive workforce with sustainable jobs will boost the implementation of the 2025 ASEAN Vision towards a more dynamic, developed ASEAN Community.