Purpose

• To better understand labour migration trends, the impact of labour migration, and labour migration management (both skilled and low-skilled migrant workers).
• To promote international cooperation in labour migration markets.

Background

The Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI) is organizing, in cooperation with Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and the International Labour Organization (ILO), a roundtable on labour migration in Asia.

This roundtable will be a follow-up to the previous series of ADBI-OECD roundtables, which have been held since 2011. The first one, held in January 2011, focused on contemporary trends and the prospects of the labour movement in the post-crisis context in Asia. This inaugural roundtable was attended by policymakers from developing countries in Asia and OECD countries, as well as migration specialists from ADB, ILO, and the International Organization for Migration. ADBI and OECD organized a second roundtable on labour migration in January 2012 to meet the great demand for discussions on this crucial issue. "Managing Migration to Support Inclusive and Sustainable Growth" was the theme for the 2012 roundtable, which focused on the management and social protection of migrant labour (i.e., how to improve integration through social protection and inclusion policies; and the demographic causes and consequences of Asian migration).

The 2013 Roundtable in Bangkok, Thailand, 23-25 January 2013 focused on developing a better understanding of the international experiences in building a mobility area for skills useful to ASEAN countries in constructing a "free flow of skilled labour" by 2015 as its approved objective, and examining both the demand side and supply side of the labour migration market.

The 2014 program will discuss:

• Trends and outlook for labour migration, remittances and labour demand in Asia in 2012-2013
• Higher education and international mobility of graduates
• Linking labour migration with human capital development
• Impact of migration and remittances on health and education of children and other family members left behind
• Managing labour migration : the case of the agriculture and fisheries sector