Hanoi (VNA) - Increasing the access of people with disabilities toinclusive employment opportunities is a key component to advancing inclusiveeconomic growth across all of APEC 21 member economies, experts have said.

Talkingwith Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reporters on the sidelines of a Symposium on Promoting the Employment of Persons with Disabilities inHanoi on May 10, delegates revealed that most of APEC members have extensive legal, regulatory, and policy frameworksthat support the inclusion of people with disabilities in the workforce.

Jenjeera Boonsombat, a disabled delegatefrom Thailand, said her country has given due attention and priorities to thedisabled and encouraged persons with disabilities to work for private companiesand state agencies. Thai people have also changed their attitude towards theability of persons with disabilities and understood that the disabled also havethe same job opportunities as normal persons, she noted.

Thailand’s Empowerment ofPersons with Disabilities Act requires the employment of 1 percent of disabled persons by all public andprivate sector employers with more than 100 employees. Private sector firms whofail to meet this requirement must pay into the Fund for Empowerment of Personswith Disabilities. Public agencies failing to meet the one percent are requiredto provide concessions or public spaces for persons with disabilities to sellproducts.

OtherAPEC economies also use quota systems tomandate the hiring of persons with disabilities in the government and/or theprivate sectors. Quota systems set a minimum percentage for employing persons with disabilities.

Japan’s Act for thePromotion of Persons with Disabilities contains a quota of 2.3 percent forpublic and 2 percent for private employers. A levy is collected from those not meeting the quota, whereas an allowanceis provided to those businesses that meet or exceed their quota. Also, the Actprovides for grants to those business owners who satisfy necessary conditionsto further promote and help to maintain the employment of persons withdisabilities. Noncompliant companies with more than 200 employees must pay afine of 50,000 yen per vacant position per month.

Su Chao Ju, Director of the EmploymentAssistance for People with Disabilities and Disadvantages Division under the ChineseTaipei Ministry of Labour’s Workforce Development Agency, said Chinese Taipeihas more than 1 million persons with disabilities. The economy has adopted apolicy to ensure a compulsory ratio of persons with disabilities in theworkforce.

Chinese Taipei’s People with Disabilities Rights ProtectionAct requires that aprivate sector firm with more than 67 employees employ at least one person withdisabilities, at a ratio of not less than 1 percent of the total number ofemployees. Firms with less than 67 employees are required to pay a subsidy to theDisabled Employment Fund, based on the difference in number of employeesmultiplied by the monthly basic wage.

The Philippine law requires that government agencies andgovernment-owned corporations reserve 1 percent of jobs for persons with disabilities. The law also recommends that private corporationswith more than 100 employees meet the same quota.

In the Republic of Korea, a business with 50 ormore employees is subject to quotas for persons with disabilities:3 percent for government, 2.3 to 3 percent for public organizations, and 2.3percent for private companies.

Russia’s law also requires a quota forthe employment of persons with disabilities of 2to 4 percent of the average number of workers. This quota applies to employers of 100 or more persons. For those employingnot less than 35 but not more than 100, quotas can be imposed up to 3 percent.

It could be said that APEC member economies areworking to ensure employment for persons with disabilities who represent about one in every six, or 650 million people in total in the region. By integrating them into the workforce, economies could enhance the economic wellbeing of a significantnumber of people and provide an outlet for their unique contributions towardregional economic growth and innovation.

AgusDiono, a delegate from Indonesia, said the symposium did not mention charity activitiesfor persons with disabilities but discussed how to ensure equal rights forthem, including rights to education, protection and employment. It also sharedexperience in supporting persons with disabilities to integrate well intosociety.

Hosted by the Human Resources Development Working Group (HRDWG) in collaboration with APEC Group of Friends on Disability Issues (GoFD),the symposium formed part of the second APEC Senior Officials Meeting (SOM 2) andrelated meetings.-VNA