CLOSING STATEMENT
BY
HON. ALAVI MOWLANA
MINISTER OF LABOUR, SRI LANKA

Mr. Director General
Distinguished Ministers
Excellencies
Ladies and Gentlemen

1. As our session draws to a successful conclusion, I am pleased to congratulate you on the important and very constructive results achieved. We have had wide ranging and free discussions on a range of issues, of importance not only to our Region, Asia, but also to global economic and social well-being. The themes and issues brought out in the Director-General’s very perceptive report were scrutinized, analysed and, indeed, tested, by the practitioners of tripartism in our Region.
    

2. The ensuing debate has covered a wide spectrum of issues that encompassed the most pressing concerns of the region as a whole, and of individual countries and the actors within them; the actions which are being taken - by the constituents, and by the Office itself - to address these concerns; and our priorities for the future. Our goal has been to outline a set of commitments to action - for the Office, and for ourselves - against which we can measure our progress in our pursuit of Decent Work for all our peoples.
    

3. Three issues underlay our debate and shaped - in some measure - its content.
    
   - The first was the looming recession and the recognition that it could undermine the advances the region has made in the social field, unless due attention was paid to ensuring that the hardships that accompanied the Asian financial and economic crisis of the last decade do not recur.
    
   - The second issue was that of globalization and its implications for the labour field. The meeting felt that ILO could help constituents to meet its challenges and harness its potential while attenuating the impact of its "darker side".
    
   - The third was poverty, an overriding concern in the Asian region which has the greatest number of the world’s working poor. Many delegates contended that employment creation was the best anti-poverty strategy but warned that it had to be under-pinned by sound macro-economic and social policies and to be backed by supportive action which targeted the poorest and most excluded segments of the population, giving them livelihoods, visibility and voice. International labour standards, and particularly the core standards embodied in the Declaration of Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, constituted an invaluable tool in this regard.
    

4. A Decent Work Agenda which integrates fundamental rights at work, greater opportunities for women and men to secure decent jobs and incomes, social protection and social dialogue, affords us a policy framework through which we can address these - and other - challenges which confront our countries today. However, each country must define its own agenda in the light of its own priorities, its circumstances and the needs of its people. While the core elements of the agenda remain the same, its emphasis would differ from one country to another and must be determined through a process of dialogue at the national level if it was to be realistic, implementable and sustainable. The very diversity of the Asian region precluded a "one size fits all" approach to Decent Work. The Office should stand ready to assist individual countries in the process of designing and implementing of these agendas.
    

5. For many delegates, employment was the central element of a Decent Work Agenda in Asia at this point in time. While they were important, in and of themselves, the other strategic objectives of the Agenda follow on this key issue and support its realization. Many called attention to the Director General’s own contention that "without work, there could be no decent work". This was a sentiment to which the poor and disposed in Asia would certainly subscribe. The Office could be of considerable service to its constituents in the Asian region by helping them to formulate employment frameworks which embodied the Decent Work Agenda. It could also usefully take this Agenda into the international debate and ensure that it was reflected in the policies and activities of other international agencies, notably the international financial institutions. As a clear reflection of the universal aspirations of people everywhere, the Decent Work Agenda should work for the ILO’s constituents at every level of the development debate.
    

6. The Report of the Meeting and its Conclusions have outlined the commitments to action to which we have pledged ourselves and the assistance we require of the ILO. I will not reiterate them at this point but I would like to note that we have set ourselves a formidable, yet vital, agenda and one which will best be achieved by cooperation and interaction, within our own countries, and across the region. I am personally convinced that the Fourteenth Asian Regional Meeting will see us much further forward on the road to achieving the goal of Decent Work for all our peoples.
    

7. I wish to thank all the delegations for their constructive co-operation and thoughtful contributions. The Director General and his staff, particularly the Regional Director, deserve all credit for efficient and professional secretariat support, without which we would not have succeeded. I also wish to thank Thailand for its warm hospitality and the hotel staff for their courtesy and efficiency which made our stay that much more comfortable and our work that much easier.
    

8. I would like to place on record my particular appreciation of the efficient services provided by the Secretary of the Meeting, Mme Nicole de Warlincourt and her staff. Last but not least, a big thank you to the Interpreters not only for their untiring efforts, but also for making whatever I said more meaningful!
    

9. May I wish all of you "bon voyage" to your respective destinations and for those of you who stay back, a pleasant stay in this friendly and beautiful country - Thailand.
    

10. Thank you and this Meeting is adjourned.

Updated by CHW. Approved by RD. Last update: 31 August 2001.