08/10/2026
𝐀𝐒𝐈𝐀-𝐏𝐀𝐂𝐈𝐅𝐈𝐂 𝐒𝐎𝐂𝐈𝐀𝐋 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 | 𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐋𝐀, 𝐏𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐏𝐏𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐒
𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐁𝐈𝐒𝐏 𝐒𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐑𝐮𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐚 𝐊𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐝 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡-𝐋𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬, 𝐄𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐞 “𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲” 𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐬𝐢𝐚-𝐏𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜 𝐒𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐖𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 𝐢𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐥𝐚, 𝐏𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬.
The discussions focused on labour market developments, employment challenges, skills development, emerging workforce requirements, practical reforms, innovative approaches, financing mechanisms and lessons learned across participating countries.
𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧, 𝐒𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐑𝐮𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐚 𝐊𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐫 𝐇𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐞 (𝐁𝐇𝐏) 𝐚𝐬 𝐁𝐈𝐒𝐏’𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬. 𝐋𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐈𝐒𝐏 𝐁𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐞, 𝐁𝐇𝐏 𝐟𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭-𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐁𝐈𝐒𝐏’𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐞-𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐣𝐨𝐛𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐞’𝐬 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐞, 𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐀𝐃𝐁’𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐒𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦’𝐬 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟖, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐡 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭.
The roundtable featured Carmela Torres, Undersecretary, Department of Labor and Employment, Philippines; Fakafanua Paunga, Chief Executive Officer, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Tonga; Krishna Bahadur Raut, Secretary, Ministry of Women, Children, Gender and Sexual Minorities and Social Security, Nepal; and Farzana Sharmin, State Minister, Ministry of Social Welfare, Bangladesh. The closing remarks were delivered by Ms. Ayako Inagaki, Deputy Director General, Asian Development Bank (ADB).
