ASEAN ministers to plan employment projects

ASEAN ministers to plan employment projects

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Southeast Asian labor ministers will meet
here next week to map out new projects to create more jobs in the
region amid the U.S. slowdown, a Malaysian minister said Monday.

But a planned protest by the country's trade union movement on
May 12 against alleged misuse of the state retirement fund could
mar the event.

Human Resources Minister Fong Chan Onn said he was hopeful of
persuading the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) to drop the
action. He told a press conference that he had "fruitful" talks
earlier Monday separately with representatives from MTUC and the
Employees Provident Fund (EPF).

"We are now in the process of intense negotiation and
arbitration. I am confident that at the end of the day, we can
come out with some deal that will appeal to the MTUC not to
picket on May 12," he said.

Fong said some of the MTUC complaints could be resolved
immediately. Others were longer-term and "larger issues which
need a much longer framework."

Fong will meet again Thursday with the MTUC, which represents
some 550,000 workers.

Unions are angry at the EPF's action in allegedly bailing out
politically connected companies, and at the six percent dividend
paid to 9.7 million contributors last year -- the lowest in 26
years.

Fong said representatives from Japan, South Korea and China
would join in the May 10-11 Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) ministerial talks.

"They want to know more about our labor conditions and Japan
is very interested in having projects on human resource
development with ASEAN countries," he said.

China is interested in ASEAN's provision of social security
for workers.

Fong said ministers would initiate projects to upgrade skills
and create job opportunities.

They would seek ways to cooperate to handle anticipated job
losses due to relocation of electronic plants within the region
amid the economic downturn, and problems of workers migrating for
better jobs elsewhere.

"We anticipated that there will be a lot more Indonesian
workers coming into Malaysia and a lot of Malaysian workers going
over to Singapore and other countries," he said.

"We will have to adjust ourselves how best we can cope with
this kind of migrational problem."