PHNOM PENH: Cambodia is pushing for greater recognition of workers’ skills and the portability of social security benefits to promote labour mobility across Asean, according to Minister of Labour and Vocational Training Heng Sour.
Sour shared the kingdom’s commitment while addressing the 29th Asean Labour Ministers Meeting (ALMM) on Wednesday (Aug 26), via videoconference.
The conference and related meetings were hosted in Bangkok, Thailand.
Speaking under the theme “Advancing Asean Human Capital: Skills Certification Towards Global Recognition”, Sour noted that the issue was both important and timely, highlighting skills recognition and certification as fundamental pillars for promoting labour mobility.
Ensuring that social security benefits can follow migrant workers across borders was another key mechanism for supporting and accelerating the movement of workers within the region, he said.
“In this regard, the Asean Declaration on Portability of Social Security Benefits for Migrant Workers in Asean, adopted at the Asean Summit in Phnom Penh in 2022, is highly important in supporting regional labour mobility,” he said.
However, he noted that practical implementation of social security benefit portability remains slower than expected.
More time is needed for Asean member states to consider differences in data-sharing arrangements, structures and social security systems in each country, he said.
Cambodia will seek further support from Asean member states and make every effort to organise upcoming regional workshops under the Asean Committee on Migrant Workers (ACMW) Work Plan 2026-2030, he explained, adding that the workshops would provide opportunities to exchange best practices and identify practical approaches to accelerating implementation.
The Vientiane Declaration on Skills Recognition and Skills Mobility for Migrant Workers has provided Asean with a strong foundation, he said, informing the meeting participants that Cambodia had begun recognising the skills of returning migrant workers.
The minister also welcomed practical efforts at the regional level, including the proposed Asean Digital Skills Passport, which could make workers’ qualifications and skills more recognisable, trusted and easily transferable.
Asean’s ambition could be summed up simply as “One Skill, One Pathway, One Region Towards Global Recognition”, Sour said, stressing that recognised skills should not lose their value when workers cross borders.
Workers’ qualifications should be able to travel with them wherever they work, followed by their rights and social security benefits, he added.
Asean labour ministers reaffirmed their strong commitment to advancing and improving implementation of Asean labour-sector outcome documents and policy frameworks.
They also adopted a Joint Communique expressing their commitment to accelerating implementation and cooperation under the Asean labour sector over the next two years, while continuing to strengthen collective efforts to respond to changes in the world of work and improve the welfare of workers across the region. – The Phnom Penh Post/ANN
