Xinhua, Yangon :
Labor ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) issued a joint communique following the end of their 23th meeting in Nay Pyi Taw, state media reported Friday.
According to the communique, ASEAN labor ministers exchanged views on enhancing competitive labor force for harmonious, progressive and prosperous workplace as well as on strategies to effectively implement directives and decisions concerning ASEAN cooperation in the labor sector.
The ministers expressed support to the development of the ASEAN Community’s post- 2015 vision and the initiative of senior labor officials meeting (SLOM) to update the data to serve as feedback to the planned final evaluation of the ASEAN Social-Cultural Community (ASCC).
The ministers touched on the implementation of the ASEAN labor ministers work program 2010-15.
The ministers agreed to strengthen the cooperation with ASEAN dialogue partners in the labor sector and in support of the realization of the ASEAN Community by 2015.
The ministers agreed to Laos as the next venue for holding the 24th ASEAN Labor Ministers Meeting (ALMM) in 2016.
The 23rd ALMM, which ended on Thursday evening, was attended by Myanmar Vice President Dr. Sai Mauk Kham who called for strengthening cooperation in protecting migrant workers.
Since 2000, ASEAN’s work on labor and human resources has been guided by the ASEAN labor ministers work program which provides the framework to prepare the region’s labor force to deal with globalization and trade liberalization.
ASEAN has worked with its dialogue partners in several areas such as industrial relations, social protection and human resources development.
ASEAN’s efforts on labor is led by the ALMM which is held every two years.
ASEAN has a massive labor force amounting to 285 million.
