WB pushes for opening of labor markets in Asia Pacific

MANILA, Philippines — The World Bank has urged the Philippines and other countries in the Asia Pacific to jump-start talks on integrating their labor markets, saying opening up employment opportunities within the region will further help member-countries weather shocks from the West.

Vikram Nehru, chief economist of the World Bank for Asia and the Pacific, said in a videoconference last week that countries in the region have manifested resiliency throughout the latest global crisis, largely through integrating their goods and financial markets.

He said trade of goods among Asia Pacific countries has increased substantially over the years, making them less affected than they would have otherwise been by the decline in demand from the recession-hit United States.

Nehru, likewise, recognized the prudent move of the Asean+3 countries [Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Brunei, South Korea, Japan, and China] to pool funds that may be readily tapped in case of a dollar shortage of any member nation.

However, Nehru said the time has come for Asia Pacific countries to enter the next stage of integration, particularly by opening up their labor markets for the benefit of one another.

“There has been a huge amount of integration in the region. Growth in trade [of goods] within the region has been faster than the growth in trade of Asia with the rest of the world. Now, the next area that policymakers should focus on is integrating labor markets,” Nehru said.

He said the World Bank would soon release a study on the benefits of integrating the labor markets of Asia Pacific.

Integrating labor markets in the region means allowing easy access of people from one country to employment opportunities in another.

Currently, the Philippines is already able to send many of its workers offshore, including countries around Asia. The Philippines has the fourth-largest number of migrant workers in the world, after China, India and Mexico.

The estimated 10 million Filipinos working or living overseas help bring dollars to the Philippines through their remittances. The money sent by the Filipino migrants, amounting to $17.4 billion last year, is credited for helping boost the dollar reserves, which are used to pay for foreign currency-denominated obligations.

The proposed liberalization of labor markets will make it easier for Filipinos and other nationals in the region to get jobs overseas as documentary requirements and some forms of restrictions would be lifted. –Michelle Remo,
Philippine Daily Inquirer