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The promise of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) can only be realized; if together we are able to surmount these challenges that lie ahead of us and where we are able to manage adjustments especially when the impact will bring risks and vulnerabilities to the working population and small enterprises.In her welcome message to the ABUC Regional Tripartite Social Dialogue Conference, Secretary of Labour and Employment Rosalinda D Baldoz stressed; ASEAN member countries dominated by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) which, under a scenario of regional integration, would require a wide range of financial services such as micro-financing and insurance as part of building their competitiveness both regionally and globally.

Officials from Ministry of Manpower Indonesia, Department of Labour & Employment (DOLE) Philippines and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Representatives from ASEAN Confederation of Employers (ACE), ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ABAC) Bank management representative from CIMB Niaga Indonesia, Metro Bank Philippines, Philippines Deposit Insurance Corporation, UNI Apro ASEAN Bank Unions Council (ABUC) leaders participated at the tripartite conference held on 6th July 2015, in Manila Philippines. The theme of the conference was; Towards Greater Financial Inclusion in an Integrating ASEAN.

    “There will be unavoidable adjustments, good and bad, difficult and easy.  Many are projected to become winners, but some might become losers.  There are both hopes and fears. Our common concern is how to make adjustments smooth and beneficial to all” Christopher Ng UNI Apro Regional Secretary awakened the audience stressing the importance of social dialogue to be encouraged not only at company levels but also national, sub regional, regional and global levels. He assured that; UNI Apro stand prepared to engage and cooperate constructively with ABAC and ACE at the national and ASEAN levels to grow ASEAN into a united and prosperous regional economy in his solidarity message at the opening of the ABUC Regional Tripartite Social Dialogue conference. 

Mohamad Shafie BP Mammal, General Secretary of ASETUC extended fraternal greetings to the conference.  Jun Umali National President NUBE Philippines welcomed the participants at the inauguration. The conference was co-sponsored by LO FTF Council Denmark and ASETUC.

 “The BSP is proud to co-chair the Banking Industry Tripartite Council (BITC) but without a doubt, our work has been a collective effort. We have only recently signed a new set of resolutions that serve to strengthen the collaboration between bank labor unions, bank management and government. And having done that, our focus now shifts to capacity-building initiatives which the BSP is more than happy to spearhead for the BITC” acknowledged by BSP Deputy Governor Nestor A. Espenilla, Jr. in his key note speech.

President of Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation, Cristina Que Orbeta,  addressed the conference on behalf of Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima, affirmed that; “Binding ourselves together rather than continuing to operate within our respective limited domains will help achieve better results in expediting the region’s development, and in addressing areas of mutual concern”, and pointed out; that the ultimate measure of the success of the ASEAN integration is if it will translate to better lives for all of us in ASEAN.   

Mr Noritka Akamatsu, Senior Advisor Sustainable Development & Climate Change Dept. Asian Development Bank (ADB) made a presentation on “ASEAN Financial Integration: Avoiding Risks, Enhancing Opportunities” – The second interactive session was on the theme; “Managing Organizational and Labour Adjustments: Lessons from Past Crises, Sharing of Good Practices” introduced by Dr Rene E Ofreneo, Ms Rosmaulina Sitanggang from Ministry of Manpower Indonesia, and Datuk  Shamsuddin Bardan, Executive Director, Malaysian Employers Federation made their contributions on the subject. Andrew Lo, CEO of Sarawak Bank Employees Union and Jayasri Priyalal UNI Apro Director for Finance sector too made contributions to the discussions.

Please find the conference statement, overview and presentations in the reference files