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“STRENGTHENING SOCIAL PARTNERSHIP IN THE DIGITAL ERA”

The Ninth ASEAN Regional Tripartite Social Dialogue (9th ARTSD) was successfully held on the 9 and 10 October at the Peninsula.Excelsior Hotel in Singapore. The Conference was organised by the ASEAN Employees Trade Union Council (ASETUC), in cooperation with the ASEAN Confederation of Employers (ACE), ASEAN Secretariat and the ASEAN Senior Labour Officials Meeting (SLOM) group, and with the support of the Ministry of Manpower, Singapore (MOM) and Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) Germany.

Since 2009, the annual series of regional tripartite social dialogue is evolving to be a platform for the regional social partners to discuss emerging economic and social issues.  A recent key emerging issue is the disruptive effect of technological innovations that is changing the way people live and work which presents a challenge for the social partners in ASEAN to adapt responsively.

The 2018 theme of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) is “Resilience and Innovation”. This is an apt theme for the regional bloc which has relied exactly on this two qualities to thrive up to this day and are necessary ingredients to the integration process towards a people centred ASEAN Community. It is therefore in line with this year’s ASEAN theme and the concern over the impact of the industry 4.0, that the 9th ASEAN RTSD sought to tackle the theme of “Strengthening Social Partnership in the Digital Era”. 

The Conference was graced and opened by Mr. Zaqy Mohamad, Minister of State for National Development and Manpower. The conference participants were constituted by representatives from the Government, Labour and Employers’ sectors from Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Viet Nam. Representatives from the ASEAN Secretariat, and invited resource persons were also present.

The conference conclusions and recommendations was adopted on day two of the conference on 10 October with the sub-theme of “Embracing Change, Building Up Partnerships”. The statement recognises that strengthening social partnership in the digital era is central to building a people-centred ASEAN. The participants of the 9th ARTSD agreed to be committed more than ever to the ASEAN goal of a people-centred regional community, and to promote economic and technological adjustments that will not leave anyone behind.