ASEAN’s Trade Future Puts Workers’ Rights in the Spotlight

For businesses that depend on overseas markets, expectations increasingly extend to how workers are treated and how companies manage responsibilities throughout their supply chains.

Protecting workers' rights is becoming increasingly important to how South-East Asian economies compete in global markets, as changing trade and supply-chain requirements place greater attention on working conditions. For governments, businesses and workers across ASEAN, the challenge is to turn labour commitments into everyday practices that support decent jobs and sustainable economic growth.

That challenge brought government representatives, workers' organizations and employers' organizations together in Bali, Indonesia, on 9–10 September 2026. Hosted by Indonesia's Ministry of Manpower and endorsed by the ASEAN Senior Labour Officials Meeting (SLOM), the regional seminar examined how labour provisions in free trade agreements, responsible business conduct and supply-chain expectations are shaping the region's economic future.

Changing Trade Requirements Reach the Workplace

For businesses that depend on overseas markets, expectations increasingly extend to how workers are treated and how companies manage responsibilities throughout their supply chains. Participants discussed the growing influence of supply-chain due diligence and environmental, social and governance requirements, highlighting the practical challenges facing ASEAN's export-oriented sectors as these expectations evolve.

Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises may face particular difficulties adapting to changing regulatory and supply-chain requirements, making their circumstances an important part of the regional discussion. Indonesia's Ministry of Manpower Secretary-General, Cris Kuntadi, described the gathering as an opportunity for governments, workers and employers to consider how trade, decent work and sustainable economic development can advance together.

Labour Commitments Need to Work in Practice

The discussions focused on the distance between commitments to fundamental rights at work and their effective implementation, including gaps in laws, institutions and enforcement. Participants examined worker representation, social dialogue and the need for closer coordination among government bodies responsible for labour, trade and commerce, recognising that progress requires action across several parts of government and the economy.

A major contribution was the launch of the ASEAN Regional Study on Implications of Inclusion of Labour Provisions in Free Trade Agreements, developed under SLOM and coordinated by the ASEAN Secretariat with Australian government support. The study maps the structure of labour provisions in trade agreements, the cooperation mechanisms they establish and their potential implications for governments, employers and workers, giving the region a clearer basis for discussing how these commitments operate.

The International Labour Organization presented its forthcoming regional Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work Gap Assessment, which will examine legal, institutional, enforcement and social-dialogue challenges. Its findings are expected to strengthen the evidence available on implementation problems, including those affecting export-oriented sectors, and inform discussions about possible regional cooperation.

Giving Workers and Businesses a Voice in Change

Simrin Singh, Director of the ILO Country Office for Indonesia and Timor-Leste, stressed that trade and labour rights need to advance together, with effective labour standards becoming an increasingly important feature of responsible participation in global supply chains. She highlighted social dialogue as a way to ensure that governments, businesses and workers all have a voice in responding to change.

Participants reviewed existing ASEAN initiatives on child labour, labour inspection and occupational safety and health, considering their relevance to sectors exposed to international trade. The dialogue will feed into continuing exchanges among ASEAN labour bodies and workers' and employers' organizations on practical ways to connect decent work with sustainable competitiveness. ILO support came through its "Trade, Labour and Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work in South-East Asia" project, funded by Employment and Social Development Canada.