By Prince Golez
The 27th ASEAN Labor Ministers’ Meeting (ALMM) and Related Meetings will take place in Manila this week, Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma said Sunday.
Labor ministers and senior labor officials from Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines are expected to attend the meetings from October 25 to 29.
ASEAN Plus Three dialogue partners China, Japan, and South Korea are also expected to attend.
In a press statement, Laguesma said the biennial meetings serve as a major venue for identifying and advancing areas of regional cooperation on labor and employment issues.
This year’s meetings will focus on moving beyond the pandemic and promoting digitalized, inclusive, and sustainable recovery and growth for workers, the ALMM also said.
The meetings will include a review of the progress of various regional programs on skill development, digitalization, climate change and green jobs, industrial relations and the changing world of work, migration, and social protection. Regional responses to unemployment, rising food prices, and inflation will also be discussed.
Labor ministers are expected to set priorities for regional actions aimed at improving employment skills, raising competency and professional qualifications standards, delivering technical and vocational education and training, making ICT and digitalization accessible to all, and modernizing agriculture, the statement read.
This is the first time, according to Laguesma, that food security and agricultural modernization will rank among the top priorities in the ALMM agenda.
“This is a good development for the Philippines as it is fully aligned with the strategic priorities of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s socio-economic agenda, he added.
