The Provisional Minimum Wage Commission will visit France and the UK in late September to study the minimum wage systems there.

During the one-week visit, commission members will solicit the experiences and views of the statutory bodies responsible for advising governments on the level of minimum wage.

The commission will organise in the fourth quarter preliminary meetings with interested parties as well as visits to low-paying sectors and small and medium-sized enterprises which are likely to be more affected by the implementation of statutory minimum wage.

At the commission's third meeting today, members were briefed on the experiences of other places in implementing a minimum wage.

The minimum wage systems in most places studied are built on the concept of "wage floor" with a view to forestalling excessively low wages without losing sight of the impact of minimum wage on the overall economy and employment.

When setting and reviewing the minimum wage level most places studied adopted similar standards by taking into account a basket of indicators such as economic situation, wage level, labour productivity, employment situation, inflation, and economic competitiveness.