Mobility of skilled labor needed for successful AEC
ASEAN Dialogue partners are urging Southeast Asian countries to pick up the slack in providing better access to employment for its skilled workers in an effort to achieve the target of free flowing labor in the region. Efforts to enhance skilled labor mobility in ASEAN have mainly relied on the Mutual Recognition Arrangements on qualifications in professional services, but the slow pace of ASEAN in implementing the framework has prevented more people from experiencing the benefits of the ASEAN Economic Community. According to South Korean Ambassador to ASEAN, Suh Jeong-in, ASEAN MRAs are important not only in realizing AEC benefits but also to complete the supply chains established across the region by multinational corporations. Suh argued that Korean companies were finding it hard to pick up skilled workers that matched their requirements from the available talent pool in their countries of operations.
