On December 17, 2012, JITCO representatives paid a courtesy call on the Myanmar Minister of Labour, Employment and Social Security.
JITCO noted that Japanese private sector investment in Southeast Asia is increasing, and relations with those countries are developing dramatically. It said investment is currently strong in Vietnam, but the next country is Myanmar, and Japanese companies are eagerly turning their eyes toward Myanmar. JITCO relayed that its position, as well, is to cooperate with the relevant institutions to support nation-building in Myanmar, but it pointed out that since personnel training takes time, it hopes for a prompt resumption of the program.
The minister expressed appreciation for the cooperative relationship thus far with JITCO and commented that he feels that personnel training through the Technical Intern Training Program (TITP) is extremely meaningful, and that discussions aimed at its resumption should therefore proceed. He said that this would require soul-searching with regard to past problems. He added that Myanmar wants to make use of vocational training school graduates and develop a vocational skills testing system in order to create an environment in which solid candidates will be chosen. He mentioned that the ministry’s job is to ensure the rights of the technical intern trainees, and it wants to avoid becoming a target of criticism by the people.
Following the courtesy call on the minister, JITCO conducted discussions with the Myanmar Department of Labour (DOL), Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security.
JITCO told that, while the number of technical intern trainees sent from Myanmar has decreased notably since the revocation of the sending organization’s approval in 2010, Japanese companies’ interest in Myanmar is still deeply rooted. It also noted that when a sending organization improperly collects an exorbitant sending fee from candidates, this can lead to problems such as runaways. Consequently, it proposed strengthening DOL supervision. In light of this, JITCO repeated its point that it is prepared to cooperate in various ways to establish a new system for Myanmar, and, for that purpose, it expressed its wish for the prompt conclusion of a Record of Discussions (R/D).
The Myanmar DOL said, as the minister had stated, that it would cooperate fully toward resumption, and therefore it wanted to explore possible methods. The DOL indicated its belief that the revocation of approval was due to many instances of runaways, and that the cause of the runaways was the low wages (allowance) under the old system. It asked extensive questions about what the division of expenses, including advance education and travel expenses, should be like and about the content of the employment contract. It also stated that it would welcome supervising organizations to visit Myanmar, and it indicated a desire to assemble superior sending organizations. In addition, in order to sign an R/D, the DOL explained that it has a big responsibility and that, if it’s going to sign one, it wants to do so based on a long-term perspective. It is therefore presently deepening its analysis and understanding, and it asked JITCO to wait a little longer for the answer.

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  Right: Mr. Maung Myint, Minister of Labour, Employment and Social Security

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  2nd from right: Mr. Myo Aung, Director of DOL