Regional seminar: Trade, investment and decent work- fostering development in Asia-Pacific

Asia and the Pacific trades more goods than any other region and accounts for nearly half of the world's foreign direct investment inflows.

How can trade and investment contribute more effectively to decent work and sustainable development in Asia and the Pacific?

The International Labour Organization (ILO) is bringing together representatives of governments, employers’ and workers’ organizations from across the region for a four-day regional seminar in Colombo to discuss this question.

Combining capacity building, exchange of experiences and tripartite dialogue, the seminar will examine the links between trade, investment and labour markets – and how trade and investment policies can deliver better outcomes for workers and enterprises.

Discussions will explore, among other issues:

• Regional trends and evidence on trade, investment and decent work
• Labour provisions and conditionality in trade and investment arrangements
• Stakeholder and social partner engagement in trade and labour policy
• Responsible business conduct and the ILO MNE Declaration
• Trade, productivity and sustainable enterprises
• Practical country-level actions to strengthen policy coherence, social dialogue and decent work outcomes

Through presentations, case studies and interactive group work, participants will identify concrete opportunities for further action and cooperation at national and regional levels.

The seminar is jointly organized by the ILO Research and Statistics Department, the ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, and the ILO Country Office for Sri Lanka and the Maldives, as part of the ILO IMPLEMENT project, funded by the Government of Flanders, and has benefited from financial and technical support from ILO projects funded by the Governments of Japan and Canada, as well as the European Union.