E

xperts have urged Southeast Asian countries to ease regulations on the exchange of workers across the region, arguing that the cross-border placement of skilled human resources would boost growth in the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC).

Asian Development Bank (ADB) senior economist Guntur Sugiyarto said most ASEAN countries maintained a protectionist stance on foreign employees, which would hamper the exchange of skills in the upcoming single market.

'€œIn order to have [cross-border] mobility of good skills, policymakers and private institutions need to participate to make it happen,'€ he said on Friday during an ADB forum titled '€œMaximizing growth and shared prosperity under the AEC by progressing on skills mobility'€.

He added governments needed to reform regulations to attain reciprocal benefits among ASEAN members, while professional associations needed to expedite the creation of a regional certification framework under the Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA).

Meanwhile, Indonesian Professional Certification Authority (BNSP) chairman Sumarna F. Abdurrahman said Manpower Ministry Regulation No. 35/2015 on the employment of foreign workers stipulated that companies in Indonesia have to pay a yearly US$1200 for each foreigner hired.

'€œ[Many] regulations still show that the country is being too protective of the local labor market. [Labor] policies also ban foreigners from certain positions in an organization,'€ he said.

Guntur said Indonesia did not need to worry about easing its policies regarding foreign workers, because the AEC, as a single market and production base, would open a huge labor market for at least seven million unemployed Indonesians of productive age.

'€œIf a country welcomes foreign workers from its neighbor, the neighbor will do the same. It'€™s always reciprocal,'€ he said.

'€œSo for Indonesia, where manpower growth exceeds population growth, it'€™s very important for us to have new work fields outside the country,'€ the economist added.

Compared to Indonesia, Thailand has an older population, the highest proportion of high-aged people next to Singapore in the region, according to Yongyuth Chalamwong from the Thailand Development Research Institute.

'€œThailand also has some protectionist policies, but it needs to change, as we need younger manpower to boost productivity and the economy to help us get out of the middle-income trap to become a developed country,'€ Yongyuth said.

Guntur explained that the key to success for the regional economic community was shared prosperity coming from a single market and production base.

'€œWe used to fear global markets [and] foreign direct investment policies, which now turn out to bring faster growth for us,'€ he said.

Data from the ADB and the International Labor Organization from an AEC simulation, in which all country members adopt very open foreign labor policies, shows that the ASEAN area'€™s gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate would rise to seven percent and also benefit each country.

Philippines'€™ Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) member Angeline Chua Chiaco, meanwhile, pointed out the important role of professional associations in completing the regional certification framework on the agreed professions. (rbk)