Jaushieh Joseph Wu
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Republic of China (Taiwan)
September 9, 2021
(As Prepared for Delivery)
Ladies and gentlemen;
Online participants around the world.
Welcome to today's Global Cooperation and Training Framework virtual conference on the Future of Work in a Post-COVID-19 Economic Recovery.
I would like to thank American Institute in Taiwan, Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association, and my colleagues from the Ministry of Labor for cohosting today's event. This is the first GCTF event to address the issue of labor. We are particularly honored to have Deputy Undersecretary of the US Department of Labor, Ms. Thea[THE-a] Lee, with us today. Deputy Undersecretary Lee's presence underscores the importance of this topic. Let me also welcome our new friends from Slovakia to join us as a cohosting partner today.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a great effect on our way of life. The implementation of new business models is highly dependent on modern technology in the post-pandemic era. Working environments are changing in a drastic way. To deal with these challenges, countries around the world feel the imperative to act.
Human rights protections and improved labor conditions are written into our constitution. The government has been working very hard to improve working conditions for our labor force in order to meet international standards. We are also making contributions to labor governance via multiple methods. Before the pandemic, we held regular dialogues or exchange visits with the United States, the European Union, the Philippines and Indonesia, to discuss the improvement of labor working conditions.
We have taken a multilateral approach to fostering our collective strength to manage modern labor challenges, for example, through APEC. Via mechanisms such as the APEC Human Resources Development Working Group, we have fully engaged labor issues that all APEC participating economies are concerned about.
Taiwan is willing to offer our expertise and experience to global partners. I hope the GCTF will continue to play a pivotal role in these kind of efforts, as it is a platform where experts from around the world can get together, and share their thoughts on emerging challenges.
In closing, I want to wish you all a fruitful discussion. Thank you!