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Interview with David Arkless, Senior Vice-President, Corporate Affairs, Manpower Inc., USA , on the concerns of the business world regarding Asia
 The theme of the World Economic Forum on East Asia is 'Creating a New Agenda for Asian Integration'. What are the new issues that need to be addressed by the region's institutions?
Trade issues are going to be critical, especially the WTO interventions that are trying to normalize foreign direct investment and exporting from the largest countries of Asia.
What everyone is afraid of, in both the commercial community and in civil society, is the threat of trade wars. We’ve already seen a skirmish with the textile disputes between China, the US and Europe, and certain things are going to be very difficult in the upcoming trade rounds. If anyone thinks that China is going to give up its position of employing almost 100 million people in textiles then they’re sadly wrong.
Secondly, there is the threat of continued regional instability caused by Indonesia. Indonesia is not politically stable, there are many factions in the country and my personal forecast is that Indonesia will be one of the critical issues for the region in terms of its political stability, religious minorities and terrorism.
What has been the impact of India and China's growth on the labour industry?
India and China are central to our future strategy. They are the two largest growing consumer economies in the world and the two largest working populations in the world. These opportunities come with certain challenges, which we are working with both governments to address.
India and China have both got huge workforces which are split between those working in well-structured jobs with lots of benefits and good pay rates and a more marginalized part of the workforce that doesn’t have access to proper employment systems and is under-trained. Both governments have got an issue with inclusion of the workforce, social security systems and the overall functionality of the employment system. |  |
"My personal forecast is that Indonesia will be one of the critical issues for the region in terms of its political stability, religious minorities and terrorism."
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There’s great commercial potential in both countries and as we are a workforce company, the two biggest countries in the world impact us greatly. We feel that it is absolutely essential to assist both governments to create a more normalized workforce.
What are the implications of Asian integration for regional workforces?
In our industry sector there is a huge way to go in East Asia in terms of normalization of recruitment and employment. The workforce in Asia is extremely early in its evolution because of a lack of regulation in parts of many industries. What the region needs to try and do is encourage a well balanced, employment-based social security system and a way to use 21st century technology to bring people to work.
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