Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila, Pasay City
19 April 2012

President Benigno S. Aquino III keynoted the 2nd Ministerial Meeting of the Abu Dhabi Dialogue, which is now being hosted by the Philippines through the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). The dialogue brings together the Labor Ministers of 11 countries of migrant worker origin, namely, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam, which are all members of the Colombo Process. Nine (9) countries of migrant worker destination that includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Malaysia, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, United Arab Emirates and Yemen, are also part of the forum.

According to President Aquino, sixty percent of the ten million Filipinos living and working outside the country are in the areas represented in the dialogue. He then stated that the idea of their meeting is to make sure that the people come first. “We want recruitment for our people to be both fair and efficient, we want workers to be treated with dignity and we want them to be able to go back home in a convenient manner,” the President added.

Meanwhile, Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz earlier said that the dialogue is an important event for the country because it pursues policies “lead to the reduction of risks and vulnerabilities attendant to worker migration.”

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