News and Events

printer friendly version

ADB-ILO Consultation Meeting

Opening Remarks
by
Bindu N. Lohani
Director General
Regional and Sustainable Development Department (RSDD), ADB

4 April 2006
Manila, Philippines

Distinguished participants, honorable guests, colleagues, friends, ladies and gentlemen.

Let me extend a very warm welcome to all of you on behalf of the Asian Development Bank, and I offer special thanks to the ILO which has sent such a large and knowledgeable delegation.

MoU
A Memorandum of Understanding between our two institutions was signed in May 2002 in Shanghai during ADB's 35th Annual Meeting. The MoU called for a consultation meeting between the two institutions at least once a year to discuss issues of strategic importance and review implementation of the MoU. I am very glad that we are getting together today for this first Consultation Meeting, even though, for various reasons, it has taken us a while to fulfill this part of the MoU!

Reason for the MoU
The reason for us entering into an MoU was to facilitate collaboration between ILO and ADB in matters of common interest to our developing member countries. In other words, the MoU envisaged ILO and ADB working together in areas where our respective strengths could be combined to promote social and economic development in Asia and the Pacific. The MoU identifes nine areas for mutual collaboration. They include steps which are relatively easy to take – but also valuable -- such as exchanges of relevant information and best practice, to activities that require a bit more planning and coordination, such as consultations on country strategies and programs.

Past collaboration
We will hear later this morning about some of the cooperative work that ILO and ADB have done in the past. A background paper for this meeting was prepared with support from ILO. Titled “A Comparative Perspective on ILO and ADB Development Policies”, the paper, which is in your folder, summarizes past collaboration between our institutions. By our count, ILO and ADB have cooperated in approximately 20 projects since the 1970s, and 8 projects since the year 2000. In 2003, for example, ILO participated in an ADB supported investment project in the Philippines dealing with Infrastructure for Rural Productivity Enhancement. In 2004 we collaborated on a technical assistance in Sri Lanka on Institutional Development of the Ministry of Labor. And just last year we agreed to work together under a Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction project on Mainstreaming Labor-based Road Maintenance in Cambodia.

Handbook on Core Labor Standards
I also should mention that Antero Vahapassi, our Senior Social Development Specialist, worked closely with ILO in the preparation of a handbook on core labor standards. He is now in the process of finalizing this document, which we expect to make public later this month.

Lead-in to possible areas of cooperation
So, I believe it is fair to say that we have had a long and mutually beneficial relationship. But like any relationship, we must take time to consider how we would like to see this partnership evolve in the future. Neither of our organizations approach development today the same way we did when we first started collaborating 30 years ago. In fact, the changes in our institutions have been very significant even within the past few years. We need to reflect on how this may affect our relationship – where it opens new opportunities and perhaps closes others.

Converging thematic interests
Table 1 in the Background Paper compares thematic priorities between the two institutions. It identifies where we share common interests. I think it would be useful to touch on a few of these.

Specifically, both institutions are mainstreaming gender into their operations. With Linda Wirth’s recent arrival here in Manila as Director for ILO’s Subregional Office, I can’t imagine how we could have a better partner in gender issues. In fact, Linda has already made a big contribution by serving as the keynote speaker at our International Women’s Day celebration last month.

ADB’s private sector operations have recently become a major component of the Bank’s business. We help to create enabling conditions for private sector investment. ILO, as you know, supports SMEs, entrepreneurs, microfinance services to poor workers, and the creation of Decent Work environments for employees in the private sector. Opportunities for future collaboration may lie here.

Regional cooperation is another potential area for new or continued cooperation. Promoting regional cooperation and integration is one of ADB’s five strategic priorities under our new Medium Term Strategy. The ILO has experience in working with bordering countries to address contentious issues associated with closer regional integration, such as cross-border movements of people, including human trafficking and child labor.

Another thematic area -- capacity development – is of deep concern to both institutions. The ILO has broad experience in working with governments to develop the capacities they need in social protection and employment that could complement the assistance that ADB provides its developing member countries. Expertise in developing policies and institutions dealing with labor issues such as industrial relations, dispute settlement, and labor administration is clearly a comparative advantage of the ILO.

Rural development in our 2006-08 pipeline
On another front, rural infrastructure has been identified as among ADB’s core operational sectors under the new Medium Term Strategy. Let me refer to a recent study undertaken by the ILO, which emphasized that poverty remains predominately a rural phenomenon despite rapid urbanization. The study points out that the “working poor” (that is, those who are employed but earn less than $2 a day) account for 87% of the workforce in South Asia, 58% in Southeast Asia, and 47% in East Asia. Unless growth and productivity both rise faster to absorb the rapidly growing workforce, this problem will worsen. In preparation for this meeting, we took a quick look at our current pipeline of investment projects and technical assistance for 2006-2008, and found that a number of rural development initiatives are slated to receive ADB support. Rural development projects are expected to be supported in Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Viet Nam, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and elsewhere. In line with this, we also are looking at how a Community Driven Development approach might be employed by ADB in selected rural development projects to strengthen prospects for achieving the desired social and economic development results. Here, once again, may be opportunities for collaboration, perhaps including use of ILO’s Integrated Rural Accessibility Planning tool.

Other possibilities in our pipeline By way of illustration, technical assistance projects in Bhutan, Indonesia, and Pakistan are expected to deal with issues such as social health insurance, social security development, and labor laws. And we will hear later this morning from Mr. Duncan Campbell from the ILO’s Geneva office as well as our own Jesus Felipe from the Economic and Research Department about perspectives in the Asian labor markets. These presentations may lead us to identify possible areas of further collaboration in information exchange and research.

Optimistic but focused
I am optimistic about our continuing collaboration in the future. However, I do not wish to minimize the obstacles to closer cooperation, of which there are several. The simple fact that it took us quite some time to get together for this first coordination meeting indicates that.

Whenever two institutions enter into a cooperative agreement, it is essential that they understand how the other operates and the constraints they work under. I have to confess that I don't know enough of ILO's decent work agenda nor of its social security policies, and I assume that my colleagues here today may feel the same way. On the other hand, our colleagues from the ILO may not be familiar with our country strategies and programs or other facets of ADB’s business.

Ideas on the focused afternoon session
It is because of this that I am glad to see how the afternoon session has been structured, with discussions on two main themes: one being on labor markets, employment and growth, and the other on social security. By focusing the discussion, I believe we can come out of this meeting with a few solid recommendations for moving forward with our partnership.

In the afternoon sessions we can explore how ILO might assist us in labor market assessments, for instance, or in identifying appropriate indicators for employment. On the other hand, we can see whether ILO-ADB cooperation in some countries might be catalyzed when ILO begins to prepare a decent work agenda for those countries. During your discussions, I would encourage you not to forget some of the simple, but important, activities we can do, such as regularly exchanging information and encouraging our field staff to meet with one another as often as may be warranted by local conditions.

Closing
I am very much looking forward to the results of this meeting. Once again, my sincerest thanks to ILO for your assistance in putting this meeting together and providing such a broad and high level participation.

Thank you.