Tripartite Signing Ceremony of Memorandum of Understanding Decent Work Country Programme for Lao PDR 2022 – 2026

• Excellency, Dr. Sathabandith Insisiengmai, Vice Minister of Ministry of Planning and Investment
• Excellency, Mr. Phongsaysack Inthalath, Vice Minister of Labour and Social Welfare
• Mr. Vilay Vongkhaseum, Vice President of the Lao Federation of Trade Unions
• Mr. Oudet Souvannavong, President of the Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry
• Mr. Graeme Buckley, ILO Country Director for Thailand, Cambodia and Lao PDR.

First, let me express my sincere gratitude for the invitation to join this important event.

I wish to congratulate the Government, LFTU, LNCCI and the ILO for designing and formulating the new Decent Work Country Programme for Lao PDR 2022-2026 through a participatory process and for the successful launch today.

This Decent Work Country Programme derives its rational from the joint Lao PDR-UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) 2022-2026, endorsed with approval by the Office of the Prime Minister, and officially singed in November 2021.

The Decent Work Country Programme will ensure the implementation of the decent work components, and where relevant, in an integrated manner with other UN entities and partners to further strengthen the interrelation between the UNSDCF and the entity-specific operationalization of the strategic objectives of the UN support to Lao PDR as a whole.

As we have seen in the presentation, the outcomes listed in the Decent Work Country Programme correspond and contribute directly to the CF with specific prioritization and focus on Inclusive Prosperity. And they include a whole range of deliverables, on

• legislative, policy and strategy development and implementation, as well as
• institutional strengthening, related to the Decent Work Agenda (including international labour standards, tripartism and social dialogue),
• decent work creation and MSME development,
• market-based skills development,
• social protection access and systems,
• the rights and decent employment of migrant workers,
• occupational safety and health, and
• strengthening the capacities of employers’ and workers’ organizations.

Therefore, your success in implementation of the Decent Work Country Programme will substantively and substantially contribute to the Lao PDR-UN collective effort to achieve the development priorities agreed and in line with the 9th National Socio Economic Development Plan.

This is critical as it aims for the national attainment of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable  Development and its associated Goals, for a more inclusive and equitable development pathway for the people of Lao PDR.

And with the demographic transition faced by Lao PDR over the coming decade, this will need to be even further elevated – enabling the expansion of the workforce with an additional 80,000 decent jobs annually to cover for the youth bulb and growing population in working age that can contribute to the productivity of the country.

This is a one-off opportunity for Lao PDR to reap the benefits of a demographic dividend but will require sufficient number of decent jobs and the progressive diversification of skill-sets among the work force to ensure competiveness and expansion of the labour market.

This will in turn, therefore also require an ongoing dialogue between all parties, including the tripartite and relevant technical and vocational education and training sectors at large, and inter-ministerial coordination to ensure the best planning and development of human resource capacities ahead.

This is why we now approach our development cooperation in a more multi-dimensional manner and we look forward to successful and coordinated implementation of this Decent Work Country Programme through the Lao PDR-UN joint work plans for the UNSDCF in cooperation with you all,

Thank you and congratulation once again.