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GB.271/6(Add.1)
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SIXTH ITEM ON THE AGENDA
Report and conclusions of the Twelfth Asian Regional Meeting
(Bangkok, 9-11 December 1997)
Addendum:
Action take to follow up on the Twelfth Asian Regional Meeting
1. The conclusions of the Twelfth Asian Regional Meeting made specific reference to the preparation of an analysis of the impact of the economic and financial crisis on the quantity and quality of employment, in preparation for a regional tripartite meeting. To prepare this analysis, a task force composed of senior specialists from the multidisciplinary teams and technical experts from headquarters is carrying out a rapid assessment of data and information relating to the impact of the crisis, focusing in particular on Indonesia, the Republic of Korea and Thailand. Data is, however, being gathered more widely.
2. The task force functions under the responsibility of the Assistant Director-General responsible for ILO activities in Asia and the Pacific. The technical paper is being drafted under the responsibility of the Director of the Cross-Departmental Analysis and Reports Team in Geneva. In addition to a technical paper, brief country profiles have been prepared.
3. The aim is to provide facts and figures on the crisis, its nature and origins. The analysis will cover the social impact of the crisis, and it will attempt a forecast of its evolution over the next two to three years in order to establish --
(a) the magnitude of the policy challenges;
(b) the policies that could contain the social costs of the crisis;
(c) the main policy lessons to be drawn from the current crisis in terms of economic management and the strengthening of social protection.
The labour standards aspect of the crisis will be covered. Priority areas for action will be suggested for the short to medium term to promote concrete assistance to ILO constituents.
4. Members of the task force have already made visits to some of the countries concerned. At a meeting with the Assistant Director-General responsible for ILO activities in Asia and the Pacific, the President of the Asian Development Bank stated that the Bank would contribute to the ILO process of analysing the crisis. Preliminary meetings have also been held with key officials of the IMF and the World Bank to ensure their involvement.
5. The regional tripartite meeting on economic and social responses to the crisis called for by the Twelfth Asian Regional Meeting will be organized in Bangkok from 22 to 24 April 1998. Eight countries (China, Indonesia, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam) and Hong Kong, China, will be invited to send delegations consisting of representatives of the Ministry of Labour and the Planning Commission (or equivalent) and of their employers' and workers' organizations. Apart from the invited countries, information on the meeting will be sent to all ILO member States that were represented at the Twelfth Asian Regional Meeting. These countries could participate as observers. Arrangements are being made for this high-level meeting to hold plenary discussions, technical discussions and group meetings. The meeting will also provide for a dialogue between the international financial institutions and ILO constituents on the crisis.
Geneva, 17 March 1998.