Brunei's Local News - Brudirect.com

Bandar Seri Begawan - Minister of Home Affairs Pehin Orang Kaya Johan Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Adanan attended the 2nd Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Labor and Employment Ministers Conference in Bali, Indonesia.

Accompanying the minister were senior officials at the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Labor Department, including Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Home Affairs and Acting Commissioner of Labor.

Themed "More and Better Jobs: Strategic Cooperation and Partnership to Promote Decent Work and Global Labor Markets to Our Mutual Benefits", the conference ran from October 13-15.

The meeting was preceded by the ASEM Senior Officials Meeting or, Labor and Employment on October 13, headed by Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Home Affairs Pengiran Abdul Haris bin Pengiran Haji Shahbudin.

The 2nd ASEM Labor and Employment Ministers Conference was officially opened and chaired by Indonesian Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Erman Soepamo.

During the conference, Pehin Dato Awang Haji Adanan delivered a keynote statement, along with heads of delegations from France, the European Commission, China and Germany.

In his address, Pehin Dato Awang Haji Adanana stressed that significant progress has been made in Asian cooperation in labor matters under the stewardship of the 20$ Asian Ministers of Labor Meeting (ALMM) in Bangkok, Thailand last May.

Brunei Darussalam, in its endeavor to strengthen its human resource development, has allocated a fund of B$250 million to implement various programmed, especially pertaining to providing and preparing local young school leavers and tertiary-level graduates for better employment opportunities.

The minister also said the promotion of decent work is the central objective of Brunei's national development strategies while promoting competitiveness, job creation in the private sector, promoting gender equalities and social security, improving occupational safety and health conditions, the information on labor migration, strengthening the labor market, and enhancing social dialogues.

By addressing these issues, he said, it contributes "not only to our national development but also regional and global integration".

At the conference, a "Bali Declaration" was adopted , which among others, underlined the importance of the ASEM process as a platform for dialogue and cooperation between the European Union and Asia, the dialogue sustained and expanded into the area of labor and employment to address the challenge in the labor market, and the social dimension of the current financial crisis which needs ASEM's keen attention.

The declaration also stated that it will contribute to a fair distribution of the benefits of globalization, including continual endeavor in promoting sound economic policies and providing appropriate active labor market publicities; building adequate social protection systems; investing efficiently in human capital and lifelong learning; enabling good governance and effective social dialogue; and supporting tailored measures to address economic and social imbalances between and within the economies.

The declaration also highlighted that labor market, social economic and environmental policies developed in cooperation with social partners and other stakeholders, have the potential to contribute in a mutually reinforcing way to decent work, economic growth and sustainable development.

It also stressed to promote decent work for all, recognized by the international community as an effective response to the challenges of globalization by addressing the formal and informal sectors of the economies, including through facilitating transitions from the informal sector to the formal one in each economy.

It is also committed to taking actions, aimed at fighting poverty, inequality and exclusion through the implementation of comprehensive policies for more inclusive and equitable societies in all countries, irrespective of their level of income, notwithstanding differences in specific immediate priorities and needs.

The declaration highlighted the need to mobilize all relevant stakeholders, including social partners, and to adopt a comprehensive approach, with regard to the promotion of corporate social responsibility.

The key role that good industrial relations and effective social dialogue based on mutual trust and shared objectives can play for sustainable development and management of change, which contributes positively to the management of strategic challenges in an ever-changing economic and social environment.

In line with constructive dialogue and taking into account the above considerations, the ministers and heads of delegations of the participating states of the 2nd ASEM Labor and Employment Ministers Meeting recommended the following activities and projects to reinforce partnership and cooperation: strengthening dialogue and cooperation through regular senior official and technical working group meetings as appropriate on cost-sharing basis; the setting up of means to facilitate technical cooperation in labor and employment; intensifying exchange of experiences, expertise and good practice as well as capacity building in training and employability, social protection and labor migration; and further developing of an adequate framework for constructive dialogue with social partners under the ASEM process and involving them in related partnership and cooperation activities and projects.

Meanwhile, a separate plenary session was held during the meeting, which focused on three areas: training and employability, labor migration and social protection.

During the session, Pehin Dato Awang Haji Adanan held a bilateral meeting with Indonesian Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Erman Soepamo to discuss relevant matters pertaining to labor and employment. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin