On July 25 to 27, the 22nd Social Asia Forum was held in Seoul, Korea. As one of the 18 special sessions of the 18th ILERA World Congress simultaneously convened in Seoul, it was co-organized by the Ajou University and the Korea Labor Institute. Liu Xiangbing, deputy secretary of the Party Committee and president of our unviersity, led an eight-member delegation to attend the forum. Nearly 100 experts from China, Japan, Korea and China's Taiwan Region had in-depth discussions on the topic of "The Role of Trade Union on Strengthening Workers Capability in the Future of work".
At the opening ceremony of the forum on the morning of July 25, Nobuaki Koga, President of Japanese Trade Union Confederation (JTUC-RENGO), President Liu Xiangbing of our unviersity, Wen-Jeng Lin, Associate Professor of the Institute of Human Resource Management at National Central University, and Lee Seung-gil, Professor of the Law School at Ajou University delivered speeches on behalf of their respective delegations. President Liu Xiangbing highly appreciated the significant contribution of the Social Asian Forum in international exchanges concerning labor relations and trade unions, and briefly reviewed the 21st Social Asian Forum hosted by our unviersity in Xiamen. From four aspects i.e. characteristics of China's current labor relations, coordination for harmonious labor relations, improvement of the quality of industrial workers and legal guarantee of labor relations, he explained new trends and progress of China's labor relations, and summarized the important role of China's trade unions in practically advancing the building and reform of industrial workforce, rights protection services in multiple fields like employment and business startup, decent work and income distribution, and trade unions' own reforms. He also shared the background and significance of Chinese President Xi Jinping's reply letter to the undergraduate students of worker model of our unviersityl, and the unviersity's ongoing action of "learn the spirit of reply letter, welcome the CULR's 70th anniversary and create first-class characteristics", and expressed the expectation for "all attending parties to enhance academic exchanges and ensure protection of workers' rights and interests and building of harmonious labor relations."
During the regional reports session of the event on July 25 and 26, Ye Pengfei, Associate Professor from the School of Labor Union of our university, made a presentation titled The Role of Trade Union in Improving Skills and Capabilities of Industrial Workers Based on a Survey of Coal Workers in Shanxi Province, China to explain the present capabilities of coal workers and the role of trade union in improving their skills. Guo Yuqiang, Associate Professor from the School of Labor Relations and Human Resources made a presentation titled The Status Quo of Vocational Capabilities of Chinese Industrial Workers, Policies and Role of Trade Union to analyze the new situation in the new era and the role positioning of trade union in vocational training. Associate Professor Qiao Jian moderated the session of presentations by the Japanese delegation. Professor Jiang Ying gave a speech at the closing ceremony to fully affirm the positive significance of the forum theme and the presentations of delegates, stress on the unique advantage of trade union in improving workers' quality, and as a response to the common issues of labor relations propose the importance of internal-external synergy and strengthening the rule of law to the improvement of workers' competency.
On the morning of July 27, President Liu Xiangbing led the delegation to the Korea Labor Institute, and was warmly received by Dean Kiu-Sik Bae and colleagues. Based on the previously signed cooperation agreement, the two sides had in-depth discussions on cooperation programs such as visiting scholars, training and exchange, academic paper exchange and publication, and investigation of enterprises and trade unions in both countries, and reached concrete cooperation plans. President Liu Xiangbing also cordially invited Dean Kiu-Sik Bae to attend the international academic seminar scheduled on the 70th anniversary of our university next year.
During the event, the delegation of our unviersity also participated in some academic exchange activities of the 18th ILERA World Congress and the centenary celebration of the ILO, and conducted extensive exchanges on the new issues and countermeasures concerning international labor relations and trade unions with scholars and experts from other countries, which further expanded the unviersity's academic influence in this field.
Founded in 1995, the Social Asia Forum is an academic exchange platform jointly initiated by the trade unions and scholars from China, Japan, Korea and China’s Taiwan Region, and hosted by these four places on a rotating basis. So far 22 sessions have been held and the 23rd session next year will be in Kaohsiung, China’s Taiwan Region, with the theme of "Employment for All Workers: Social Dialogue and the Role of Trade Unions in the Digital Economy".
(Foreign Affair Office)