ASEAN labour officials are meeting over two days in Vientiane to update progress, share experiences and seek ways for future cooperation on labour practices.
The ninth meeting of Senior Labour Officials Meeting’s Working Group (9th SLOM-WG), on progressive labour practices to enhance the competitiveness of ASEAN, will conclude today an
Source: Vientiane Times
d is being attended by Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, Mr Bounkhong Lasoukan, Director General of the Labour Management Department under the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, Mr Phongxaysack Inthalath, and senior labour officials from ASEAN countries .
The government of Laos highly values the importance of the SLOM-WG meeting because it is a venue for ASEAN officials to update each other on the progress of labour practices, share experiences and seek ways for further cooperation, MrBounkhongLasoukan told the meeting yesterday.
He said its main purpose was for senior labour officials to update themselves on completed and planned projects over the year since the 8th SLOM-WG Meeting to enhance the competitiveness of ASEAN.
The meeting is also significant for Laos as it will hand over the chairmanship role of SLOM-WG to Myanmar.
At this year’s ASEANLabour Ministerial Meeting, the International LabourOrganisation (ILO) selected Transition from Informal Employment to Formal Employment towards Decent Work Promotion as the thematic topic, MrBounkhong mentioned.
This shows the commitment from ASEAN Members States to implement the ILO Recommendation 204 for the transition from the informal to formal economy. In this connection, ASEAN leaders have adopted the Vientiane Declaration on the Transition from Informal Employment to Formal Employment towards Decent Work Promotion in ASEAN’, he added.
Apart from that, this is the first year for implementing the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals, particularly goal No. 8 which promotes Decent Work and Economic Growth and this goal calls for a focus on vulnerable groups and addressing inequality. In this regard, world leaders, including ASEAN leaders have made commitments to promote inclusive and sustainable growth and decent work for all.
Beside our efforts to enhance the competitiveness of ASEAN, we are facing a number of challenges. One ILO study finds that about 179 million workers in ASEAN are in poor quality jobs and vulnerable employment – meaning that they have informal working arrangements, inadequate social protection and poor working conditions. That’s why close and active cooperation from all of us is very essential to tackle the problem, Mr Bounkhong explained.
Source: Vientiane Times
