Page 62 - ASEAN-EU Dialogue 2018: Regional and Inter-Regional Economic Cooperation: Identifying Priorities for ASEAN and the EU

Chapter Eleven
ASEAN’s Experience in Skilled Labour Mobility
Tham Siew Yean

Introduction
The human capital view of economic development emphasises the important role of human
capital in economic growth and development through its contribution towards productivity and
technology improvements. Traditionally, a country increases its endowment of human capital
through investments in education and training. Differences in investments in education as well
as the efficacy in educational spending in a country can therefore contribute to the human
capital gap between countries, especially between developed and developing countries.
Migration of workers, encouraged in part by the differences in the returns to labour, can serve
to narrow or exacerbate the human capital gap between countries. For example, skilled labour
migration from the developing to the developed world can exacerbate the shortage of skilled
workers in the developing world while augmenting skills shortage in the developed world.

Regional groupings such as the European Union (EU), have sought to harness the full potential
of a region’s human capital by allowing for intra-regional mobility of EU citizens. ASEAN’s
own model of economic cooperation have also recognised the importance of human capital for
the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). Consequently, the free flow
of skilled labour was identified as one of the AEC 2015 targets in the AEC Blueprint that was
adopted in November 2007. The focus on skilled labour is to facilitate member countries to
enhance their economic development by moving towards higher value-added production of
goods and services which require the utilization of this type of labour.

The objective of this chapter is to review the initiatives that have been undertaken to promote
the mobility of skilled workers in ASEAN based on its own targets in the AEC 2015 Blueprint
to the AEC 2025 Action Plan. ASEAN’s achievements to date is also discussed while the
challenges encountered are synthesised from the literature. The conclusion summarises the
main experiences of ASEAN in the mobility of skilled workers.

ASEAN: Plans and Achievements in the Mobility of Skilled Workers
Mobility of skilled workers is used to facilitate the establishment of a single market and
production base, which is one of the four key pillars in the Strategic Schedule of the AEC
Blueprint (2008-2015) (ASEAN Secretariat, 2018a). To facilitate the movement of
professionals, ASEAN initiated Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs) in 2005, for eight
occupational groupings (ASEAN Secretariat, 2018b). These are engineering, architecture,
accountancy, surveying, nursing, medical practitioners, dental practitioners and tourism
professionals.

Subsequently, in 2012, the ASEAN member states (AMS) signed two milestone agreements to
streamline the movement of specific individuals within the region. The first is the ASEAN
Agreement on the Movement of Natural Persons (MNP), which provides the legal framework
to facilitate the temporary cross-border movement of people who are engaged in the conduct
of trade in goods, services and investment (ASEAN Secretariat, 2018c). These are usually
business visitors, intra-corporate transferees, and contractual service suppliers. This agreement
applies only to the services sector as it is Mode 4 in the supply of services as encapsulated in
the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services (AFAS) and it is therefore not applicable for
the manufacturing sector. Since AFAS commitments are based on a positive approach or the
commitments offered for liberalisation by each AMS, there are large variations in the

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