4th Regional Skills Technical Working Group (RSTWG) Meeting

Background: 

Labour mobility in the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) is increasing at a rapid rate. To facilitate this free flow of skilled labour in the ASEAN region, the ILO in close collaboration with ASEAN Secretariat initiated the implementation of Mutual Recognition of Skills (MRS). Through the MRS process, the workers with a modest skill set can have their skills recognized within the ASEAN Qualification Referencing Framework (AQRF) in selected occupations.

A Regional Skills Technical Working Group (RSTWG) was established as a working-level technical group to support all skills-related activities of the ILO including the Mutual Recognition of Skills project. National Skills Focal Points of the ASEAN Member States (AMS) who are its members meet annually to discuss skills-related issues.

Past meetings have resulted in the development of an action plan defining the set of occupations for skills recognition process.

The 4th Regional Skills Technical Working Group (RSTWG) Meeting - ‘Moving Towards the Mutual Recognition of Skills’ Implementation in ASEAN’ focuses on the implementation of the action plan.

Objective(s):

The meeting aims to facilitate:

• Greater understanding of the evolving context of the mutual recognition of skills (MRS) implementation;
• Sharing of experience in the strengthening of legislative framework and institutional capacity and arrangements of the MRS; and
• Discussion on the next steps for taking the MRS forward, including the pilot implementation.

Further Information:

Expected Outputs:

The expected outputs from the Meeting are as follows:

• An agreed framework for the Roadmap for the Implementation of MRS.
• Resolution for recommending new and further actions on MRS, including the Pilot Implementation of MRS in selected countries, sectors and occupations, to Senior Labor Officials’ Meeting.
• The continued implementation of the AQRF-TVET Project.
• A Meeting Report on (i) the progress made on strengthening institutional capacity and mechanisms preparing for the MRS implementation and (ii) follow-up action plans per country.