ASETUC meeting with Cambodia Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training.

THE CAMBODIA MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING TO HOLD DIALOGUE WITH THE ASEAN TRADE UNIONS IN THE SERVICES SECTORS

Delegates at the dialogue meeting

between ASEAN trade unions in the services sectors and the Cambodia Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training.

On the 7^th March 2012, a delegation representing the ASEAN Services Employees Trade Union Council (ASETUC) and its Cambodia affiliates led by brother Mohamed Shafie BP Mammal, ASETUC General Secretary and brother Christopher NG, UNI Apro Regional Secretary in partnership with the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Office for Regional Cooperation in Asia was invited to a dialogue meeting by the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training (MLVT) headed by Secretary of State of the Kingdom of Cambodia, His Excellency Mr. Oum Mean.

In this dialogue, brother Christopher NG discussed on the development trends in Southeast Asia region, on the importance of Cambodia chairmanship to advance ASEAN Blueprints in 2012, on the necessity to establish harmonious industrial relations in order to strengthen the competitiveness of the region, on trade unions’ role not only to represent the voice of the workers but also to work in partnership with the government and the employers contribute so as to the sustainable growth and prosperity of the individual ASEAN countries and the region.

H.E. Mr. Oum Mean shared with the delegates about the Industrial relations mechanism and practices in Cambodia as well as the vision from the Ministry towards a sustainable democracy for Cambodia, which provides spaces for trade union movement to be nurtured and strengthened. He also expressed the appreciation for the FES’ and ASETUC’s vision and the cooperation to empower Cambodia trade union leaders to understand about ASEAN integration process, to establish trust among social partners and to take pro-active steps to overcome challenges posed by globalized market economy.

Year 2012 of Cambodia Chairmanship brings further cooperation between ASETUC, FES and MLVT in the following areas:

1. The annual jointly organized regional social dialogue on occupational safety and health with the objective to jointly create a regional standard guideline on OSH in various services sectors;
2. The process and outcomes of building social partnership in ASEAN will be reported to ASEAN senior labour officials as the foundation to further develop the strategic priority on Social Partners in the ASEAN Labour Ministers’ Work Program 2010 – 2015;
3. A joint research study on comparative labour law in ASEAN in which MLVT is the focal point for the area of Youth Employment.