Regional integration and connectivity are to be

Regional integration and connectivity are to be accelerated through

facilitating the movement of skilled persons, capital and goods, lowering
barriers to trade and strengthening the institutional mechanisms of ASEAN.

ASEAN also works towards facilitating the free flow of skilled labour in the
region. The ASEAN Agreement on the Movement of Natural Persons (MNP)
provides the legal framework to facilitate temporary cross-border movement
of people engaged in the conduct of trade in goods, services and investment.
Mutual Recognition Arrangements (MRAs) have also been concluded in eight
professions to facilitate the movement of ASEAN professionals in these areas
through recognition of their qualifications.

ASEAN PROFESSIONALS ON THE MOVE

BEST PEOPLE AND BEST PRACTICES
The diversity of talent found in the ten Member States is a major benefit for
ASEAN employers as they build regional companies.

Mutual Recognition Arrangements (MRAs) such as ASEANs MRA in

engineering and architectural services provide for recognition and
registration of certified professionals to practice in other ASEAN countries.
The MRAs will also change the way ASEAN professionals 31think about their
careers as the prospect of marketing and utilising their skills across the
ASEAN region becomes more attainable.

Under the MRA on Tourism Professionals signed in 2012, training and

education institutions using the Common ASEAN Tourism Curriculum will help
improve their graduates eligibility to work in other Member States. This
opens up great opportunities to enhance the quality of services and human
resources in the tourism industry.

The heads of state, leaders in the private sector and other experts know that
regional integration and the building of a single market for the AEC is a
process that is just beginning.

1. Free flow of skilled labour.

2. MRAs concluded in eight professions to facilitate the movement of

ASEAN professionals in these areas through recognition of their
qualifications.
ASEAN will enhance the well-being and livelihood of the peoples of ASEAN by providing
them with equitable access to human development opportunities by promoting and
investing in
education and life-long learning, human resource training and capacity building, encourage
innovation and entrepreneurship, promote the use of English language, ICT and applied
science
and technology in socio-economic development activities which lead to competitive labour
force and increase in OFWs

Strategic objective: Ensuring the integration of education priorities into ASEANs development
agenda and creating a knowledge based society; achieving universal access to primary education;
promoting early child care and development; and enhancing awareness of ASEAN to youths
through education and activities to build an ASEAN identity based on friendship and
cooperation.

Strategic objective: Enhance and improve the capacity of ASEAN human resource through
strategic programmes and develop a qualified, competent and well-prepared ASEAN labour force
that would benefit from as well as cope with the challenges of regional integration.
According to a recent study (2014) made by the International labour Organization and the
Asian Development Bank (ASEAN Community 2015: Managing integration for better jobs
and shared prosperity), if all goes well, the ASEAN Economic Community could generate
14 million jobs by 2025 and improve the livelihood of 600 million people across all 10
Asean member states.
The ILO & ADB study said that the AEC could raise the GDP of the region as a whole to 7.1
percent by 2025. However, the clincher is that while it will create jobs, it will also destroy
others. There will be 14 million net jobs in 10 years, which considering job losses, is almost
not an improvement in Asean employment as it is right now.
The overall net job gain put at 14 million by 2025 following the implementation of the AEC
will come from trade, transportation, and construction. Currently, 40 percent of workers in
the region are categorized as low-income workers, mostly employed in the agriculture
sector. The projected jobs by 2015 are also low-income in nature.
The study also noted that the job gains will be uneven, and will vary country, sectors, and
gender. These will not be distributed evenly between countries, economic sectors or
between women and men. The study found that there will be fewer new jobs for women in
the new Asean Economic Community, with many of those jobs possibly being in sectors
that are vulnerable and informal leading to greater inequalities.
Can the ASEAN Economic Community provide increased employment and higher income
for the workers in the Philippines?
There will be increasing migration between ASEAN counties driven by demographic and
wage disparities. Medium and low skilled workers more likely to migrate due to high
demand of construction , agriculture and domestic workers.