AsiaDHRRA co-anchored a panel entitled “Towards Fair Trade In An Integrating ASEAN: Perspectives of Workers, Farmers and Informal Sector” during the 6th ASEAN People’s Assembly 2007 last October 25, 2007 in Manila.
The panel which was well attended focused on the serious social ramifications on small men and women farmers, on workers and on the service sector, both formal and informal, of the ongoing liberalization among the ASEAN Member Countries. Key questions were asked. What can governments, trade unions, and small farmers do to ensure that any process of regional integration and liberalization is equitable and inclusive? How can the pitfalls of liberalization be avoided? What lessons can we learn from the practices of various groups and other governments on how to meet the challenges and limitations of trade and service sector liberalization ?
The panel was jointly organized with the ASEAN Service Employees Trade Union Council (ASETUC), Asian Farmers’ Association (AFA), Fair Trade Alliance (FTA), Homebased Workers’ Networks in Southeast Asia (Homenet Southeast Asia) and Union Network International -Asia Pacific Region (UNI-APRO).
The 6th APA with the theme “ASEAN at 40: Realizing the Peoples’ Expectations” is an annual event organized by the ASEAN ISIS network. An important session on the challenges, opportunities, and future directions on Myanmar in ASEAN concluded the plenary sessions.