ASEAN business and labour leaders are keeping a cautious eye on the coming months, when the full impact of the global economic crisis will be felt on business and jobs in their home countries.

Bosses, unionists and government officials here for the inaugural Asean Human Resource Summit today sounded a worrying note when interviewed by The Straits Times.

Dr Bambang Widianto, a deputy minister in Indonesia's Ministry of State for National Development, said his main concern is whether job creation will be reduced in the next two years.

'We need to have good relations with employers and unions to reduce the impact of the crisis.'

The International Labour Organisation had cautioned on Monday that if growth in Asean dropped because of the financial crisis, unemployment in the region could rise from 5.8 per cent last year to as high as 6.1 this year and 6.2 per cent next year.

Singapore's Acting Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong reflected this anxious mood in his opening speech, but signalled the need to position Asean for a recovery from the downturn.

Noting that each country has its unique challenges and solutions in developing their workforce, he gave the 450 participants a snapshot of Singapore's efforts.

They range from re-employment of older workers to plans and programmes to boost continuing education and training of workers.

The one-day summit at Shangri-La Hotel included presentations on labour relations and human resource practices by representatives from Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.