The 5th RSTWG Meeting was co-hosted by Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA), Vietnam and the ILO. Since 2014, the RSTWG meetings have been a forum for regional dialogue and mutual learning for ASEAN Member States (AMS) to progress on the Mutual Recognition of Skills (MRS), assisting national efforts for strengthening the skills and certification systems to preparing themselves for the MRS implementation. The MRS initiative focuses on low-to-middle skilled workers and responds to the AEC’s vision of achieving the free flow of skilled workers and designed to complement Mutual Recognition Arrangements (MRA) that focus on high skilled professions.

The 5th RSTWG Meeting was unique in the way that it brought together discussions on the progress on the implementation of both the MRAs and MRSs, as well as sharing of updated information on the ASEAN Qualifications Reference Framework (AQRF) progresses. The 5th RSTWG Meeting provided a platform for a multi-sectoral collaboration, joining hands to reach a better understanding so to establish a common platform, based on recommendations, in designing the ways forward. Participants acknowledged that the three broad initiatives that promote the mutual recognition of skills among the AMSs were established to: support the liberalization and facilitation of trade services envisaged to be made possible through the mobility of professionals in ASEAN; be a common reference framework that enables comparison of education qualifications across participating AMS; and support the recognition of skills of the middle-to-low skilled categories of workers, thereby, facilitating the freer movement and employment of qualified and certified personnel in ASEAN.

The design of the 5th RSTWG Meeting was to facilitate further coordination and cooperation among the AMS, together with the ASEAN secretariat, in moving forward the on-going mutual recognition efforts within the region with a focus on the MRA and MRS implementation. The Meeting facilitated the knowledge sharing of the progress in implementing the MRA in ASEAN with a view to identifying and addressing barriers for further implementation and promotion and greater understanding of the evolving context of the MRS and MRA implementation, including recent development of AEC in relation to challenges and opportunities related to human resources development and regional labour market information. The experience sharing on the pilot implementation of the MRS in 2019 and on the next steps for taking the MRS programme forward and shed light on the challenges of mutual recognition systems. Inputs for a harmonized recommendation for further actions on implementing and expanding MRAs, AQRF and MRS are three key initiatives on skills recognition in ASEAN; and situating these work on skills recognition as part of emerging and forthcoming regional TVET initiatives and Future Skills Agenda in ASEAN.