The collaboration between the International Labour Organization (ILO) and Singapore’s Ministry of Manpwer (MOM) will be continued, as the two parties have renewed a partnership agreement that aims to promote decent work in Southeast Asia region.

The longstanding cooperation to push for the decent work agenda in Asia and Pacific has been initiated by ILO and MOM since 2011. The Partnership Agreement between the ILO and the Singapore Ministry of Manpower was first signed in June 2011, and renewed in 2014 and 2016.

For about seven years, they have developed a collaboration in the areas of occupational safety and health, tripartism and social dialogue, labour market information and labour migration. The renewed partnership agreement is set to run until the end of 2020. This final decision was made after consulting with the workers’ and employers’ organisations of Singapore.

The partnership will work to enhance capacities of social partners in ILO and ASEAN member States in the field of labour as well as promoting the Decent Work Agenda. According to a press release published on Thursday (June 7), the collaboration will also strengthen Decent Work aspects of the ASEAN regional integration process through exchange of knowledge and South-South cooperation. Joint activities will include the organisation of Sub-Regional Workshop on the implementation of the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 for ASEAN Countries and Mongolia, from 10 to 13 July 2018 in Singapore, and the 11th ASEAN Forum on Migrant Labour (AFML) 29-30 October 2018.

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ILO Assistant Director-General and Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, Tomoko Nishimoto and Permanent Secretary of the Singapore Ministry of Manpower, Aubeck Kam were present to sign the agreement on Wednesday 6 June 2018 at a ceremony held during the 107th International Labour Conference (ILC) in Geneva, Switzerland.

At the event, Ms Nishimoto said, “We are delighted that Singapore has renewed the partnership agreement with the ILO for the fourth time. Our fruitful cooperation has benefited the region’s development, by integrating the three dimensions of sustainability – economic, social and environmental in our joint activities. While advancing social justice, in line with ILO’s mandate as it enters its second century, this renewed partnership will also contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in Asia.”

Mr Kam commented, “Singapore is delighted to renew its partnership agreement with the ILO. We strongly believe that tripartism is the foundation for the promotion of decent work for all workers. Working with the ILO enables us to share our belief in tripartism with Asia-Pacific, and is our contribution to promoting decent work for all in the region.”

Activities organized under the agreement included the organisation of the 21st World Congress on Safety and Health in Singapore in 2017, technical cooperation to improve occupational safety and health in Brunei, a workshop on resolving employment disputes for ASEAN countries, a Singapore-Norway Third Country Training Programme on the Decent Work Agenda, a training-of-trainers workshop on Risk Assessment in the Philippines, training for labour inspectors in Vietnam, study visits by Vietnamese and Cambodian delegations on the topics of industrial relations and the National Wages Council, as well as training on Labour Force Surveys for government delegates of Brunei Darussalam.

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