ASEAN Countries Must Commit to Developing Human Resources

During an interview in Jakarta, Tuesday (14/5), Minister of Manpower Muhaimin Iskandar asserted that ASEAN Countries must be committed to the development of their human resources in light of the upcoming ASEAN Economic Community 2015 (AEC).

Muhaimin explained that this can be done through standardization of training and work competence.

“If ASEAN countries have internationally qualified workers, ASEAN will be the center of development in Asia or even world,” he stated.

Muhaimin further said that he has stressed this issue in front of officials on labor division from ASEAN members during the ASEAN 9^th Senior Labor Officials Meeting (SLOM) held in Semarang.

Meanwhile, in regards to the migrant workers issue, Muhaimin asserted that ASEAN members need to commit to ensuring the welfare of migrant workers and their families.

To this end, he encouraged the ASEAN Committee on Migrant Workers (ACMW) to improve cooperation among ASEAN in order to protect and fulfill the rights of migrant workers.

Meanwhile, Timboel Siregar, Secretary General of All-Indonesia Workers Organization, reminded that the Government must use the AEC momentum to demand implementation of protection of migrant workers and improve the development of workers’ competency and skills.

“We should learn from our experience when China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (CAFTA) was implemented in 2010, the lack of preparation from the Government has victimized our workers,” Timboel Concluded.