ILO to hold Asia and Pacific Regional Meeting in Busan, Republic of Korea

BANGKOK (ILO News) - Government, worker and employer leaders from some 40 Asian, Pacific and Arab countries will gather at the 14th Asian Regional Meeting of the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Busan, Republic of Korea from 29 August to 1 September to shape an agenda aimed at addressing a wide range of employment and workplace issues in the region.

The ILO Asian Regional Meeting will be held at the Busan Exhibition and Convention Centre (BEXCO) and is expected to bring delegates from 29 countries in Asia and the Pacific and 11 Arab states. The President of the Republic of Korea will speak at the opening ceremony.

The discussions will focus on the themes of promoting competitiveness, productivity and jobs in a globalizing world; providing decent employment for young women and men; managing labour migration to benefit both sending and receiving countries and protect migrant workers; adapting and modernizing labour laws and labour market institutions; and extending social protection.

Heads of Government participating in the meeting will address delegates on the subject of "Decent work in the 21st century: Asia's leading role", while Labour Ministers will take up the theme of "Developing workers' skills for decent jobs in a globalization context" at an informal Ministerial meeting. Representatives of regional organizations will consider "Decent work in the 21st century: Making it a reality through strategic partnerships".

"With over 60 per cent of the global workforce, Asian countries are of great diversity and global significance," said ILO Director-General Juan Somavia. "A major reduction in the decent work deficit in this region will be a tremendous boost to the realization of decent work globally."

Following the United Nations World Summit in September 2005, the ILO's Decent Work Agenda has been recognized by the international community as a specific goal in itself to help realize the Millennium Development Goals, especially poverty reduction.

The ILO's Director-General will present two reports to the meeting: Realizing decent work in Asia, which assesses how economic growth has affected workers and working conditions, examines the links between decent work, poverty reduction and social equality, and highlights key policy challenges; and Decent work in Asia: Reporting on results 2001-2005 which catalogues concrete efforts by countries to progress towards decent work with ILO support.


Note for the media:

For more information on the Asian Regional Meeting and details of media accreditation, please see: www.ilo.org/asia or www.ilo.org/public/english/region/asro/bangkok/14arm/index.htm.

For more information please contact Sophy Fisher, ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (Bangkok), fisher@ilo.org, Tel: +662/288-2482 or +669/895-0912; or Thomas Netter, ILO Media Geneva, netter@ilo.org, Tel: +4122/799-7973 or +4179/593-1366. For information on video coverage contact Karen Naets-Sekiguchi, naets-sekiguchi@ilo.org, Tel: +4122/799-7935 or +4179/593-1363.