Enterprise Formalization

Transition from informal to formal economy: Awareness raising on R204 towards designing an integrated policy framework in the Philippines

The efforts to facilitate formalization of the informal economy has been accelerating across the globe bolstered with the historic adoption of Recommendation 204 Concerning the Transition from the Informal to the Formal Economy Recommendation (R204) which was adopted by the International Labour Conference at its 104th Session in 2015. With the launch of the SDGs, the interests are growing to support more than 60 per cent of the world’s workforce operating in the informal economy through transition to formality. The notion that economic growth, while a necessary condition, is insufficient to reduce informality, is widespread in the debates of post-global financial crisis, and most recently in the context of the fourth industrial revolution including in the Future of Work dialogue hosted by the ILO.

Since the adoption of R204, the ILO has strengthened its support to the member countries including the launch of the Academy on formalization of the informal economy at the International Training Center in Turin (ITC-Turin, the training arm of the ILO), the informal economy diagnostics studies conducted in more than 20 countries to date and the organization of regional knowledge sharing events. In the Philippines, the ILO supported in-country training workshop on R204 in Manila for November 29-December 1, 2017 and again for July 11-13, 2018. On the latter, over 60 participants represented a broad range of the government agencies, the lawmakers, the representatives of the informal economy and other basic sectors, and the social partners.