The 14th ASEAN Senior Labour Officials Meeting (14th SLOM) and 16th ASEAN Plus Three Senior Labour Officials Meeting (16th SLOM+3) from November 25-26, 2018 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, organized by the Malaysian Ministry of Human Resources. The objective was to 1) Discuss and exchange views on the implementation of the ASEAN Senior Officials Framework and ASEAN plus three such as employment, social protection, promotion of environmentally friendly work, promotion and protection of migrant workers’ rights; and 2) Follow up the implementation progress of the ASEAN Senior Officials Framework and seek channels to expand cooperation with other sectoral bodies under key headings which are promoting green jobs for equity and inclusive growth of ASEAN Community. The meeting was attended by senior labour officials from ASEAN member nations plus three and 70 delegates from the ASEAN Secretariat.
The meeting acknowledged and discussed the following issues: 1) Senior ASEAN labour officials such as the ASEAN Senior Officials Framework (AQRF), anti-trafficking initiative and drive of the ASEAN master plan; 2) Monitoring and evaluation of the ASEAN Framework for Socio-Economic Indicators 2025; 3) Driving Results of the ASEAN Labor Ministers including a) The Vientiane Action Plan on transition from informal employment to employment in the system to promote valuable work in ASEAN b) The Kuala Lumpur Declaration on promotion of environmentally friendly work for equal growth and everyone involved in the ASEAN Community c) The Action Plan on the implementation of the ASEAN Declaration on Promotion and Protection of ASEAN Foreign Workers (2018-2025) to promote ASEAN consensus and d) The ASEAN-OSHNET initiative to drive the ASEAN Ministerial Labor Declaration to improve occupational safety and health for sustainable economic growth. The Ministry of Labour has expressed its support for driving the results of the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on alignment with its policies and strategies, especially in promoting and protecting the rights of foreign workers, support for safety and occupational health in workplaces for access to valuable work. Additionally, the development of environmentally-friendly skills will enable workers to be more competitive and adapt to the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
The meeting focused on promoting environmentally friendly work and encouraged workers and entrepreneurs to realize the importance of training to build eco-friendly skills and drive the program to expand social protection concerning social security for migrant workers to achieve equal access and coverage.
In the final part, the meeting acknowledged the host for the 15th ASEAN Senior Labour Officials Meeting and the 17th ASEAN Plus Three Senior Labour Officials Meeting in Bangkok in May 2019. The Ministry of Labour as host, will coordinate with the ASEAN Member States on the date and venue of the next meeting.
