Pacific Annual Labour Mobility Meeting concludes
Pacific Annual Labour Mobility Meeting 2022 At Taumeasin Island Resort.
Photo: Supplied
Bringing the Pacific together to discuss and generate stimulating inclusive dialogues on current labour mobility issues, was the main focus of the 6th Pacific Annual Labour Mobility Meeting (P.L.M.A.M) that was held from the 7th-10th of November 2022 in Apia.
The P.L.M.A.M was hosted by the Government of Samoa, with this year's conference being the first in-person meeting following the hybrid-mode P.L.M.A.M that was held back in 2021.
Over 150 delegates from government, private sectors, non-government organizations, international agencies, and stakeholders from around the region attended the meeting to discuss labour mobility priorities in the region.
P.L.M.A.M is provided under the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations (P.A.C.E.R) Plus Arrangement on Labour Mobility as a mechanism to advance regional labour mobility cooperation.
Mr. Roy Lagolago, Head of the P.A.C.E.R Plus Implementation Unit, stated that, “The significance of the P.L.M.A.M lies in the opportunity to bring the region together to discuss issues and come up with solutions to address these issues as a collective. As we heard this week, labour mobility is not just a development initiative but also an economic initiative for both labour sending and receiving countries,”
He also added that, “The P.L.M.A.M effectively provides the preeminent opportunity for open and inclusive dialogues that can advance the level of cooperation needed to enhance the benefits of labour mobility in the Pacific."
The theme of the 2022 P.L.M.A.M was “Reinvigorating Labour Mobility Cooperation for Development '' and presented the opportunity for Pacific labour mobility stakeholders to re-engage, reset, and re-commit to advancing effective regional cooperation.
The 2022 P.L.M.A.M also generated stimulating inclusive dialogues on current labour mobility opportunities and challenges and identified regional solutions and concrete actions for 2023/24.
The alternate Chair of the final P.L.M.A.M Dialogue, Pulotu Lyndon Chu Ling, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry, and Labour (M.C.I.L) concluded by conveying that, “whilst the recently discussed recommendations in today’s session for more workshops, technical talanoas and additional staff of the P.P.I.U are a step in the right direction, however what we need as a collective are practical solutions to our longstanding problems, which includes appropriate and affordable accommodation, improved pay rates, more efficient visa processes, to name a few.”