DAVAO CITY—The 10 member-nations of the Asean are set to discuss the fate of their migrant workers, a major issue common to Asean members highly dependent on foreign remittances and finance integration, as the 10 members further converge into a single economy.
The labor ministers of the Asean are scheduled to convene for a four-day meeting next week to discuss the issue, Tourism Director for the Davao region Roberto P. Alabado III said.
The city hosts three meeting of Asean senior officials, one among many the Philippines would be hosting as this year’s chair, although most of the senior officials and top-level meetings would be conducted in the national capital.
Aside from the labor ministers’ four-day meeting, the city also hosted the ongoing senior economic officials’ meeting and another senior officials’ meeting on finance integration.
The issue of migrant workers is close to the hearts of many Asian countries, with many belonging to developing countries. The Asean group alone accounts for 31.9 percent of the world’s foreign nationals in other countries.
Asean and World Bank data showed more than 247 million migrant workers and nationals from Asean living outside the region account for a third of the region’s total population of 608 million.
As of 2013, their remittances back home account for as high as 9.8 percent in the Philippines to 6.7 percent in Vietnam, but to as low as no contribution at all to the so-called Asian tigers Singapore and Malaysia, known work places for Asean migrant workers.
The meetings here would give the city another boost to its reputation as a convention choice, Alabado said.
In the last decade, the national conventions held here accounted for the bulk of the number of visitors here, and by 2011, the region broke the 1-million mark.
“The series of international meetings this month due to Asean hosting, the visit of a contingent of Miss Universe contestants last week and Miss Earth candidates late last year, should make the world know we are a ready Mice [meetings, incentives, conventions and events] destination,” he said.
“We are now aiming to host more international gatherings,” he added.
Alabado said the security blanket accorded these visits by dignitaries and both the Miss Earth and Miss Universe candidates had security group of these events “blushed in knowing that we accord them the same security that we also gave to visiting Prime Minister Shinzo Abe last month.”
The security group in the region has tapped more than double the actual size of the Davao City Police Office’s 1,000 personnel.
“They also consist of personnel from the Department of Health and Social Welfare and Development,” Alabado said, adding the same group would be here for the rest of the month during the Asean meetings.