August 13, 2024
SINGAPORE – President Tharman Shanmugaratnam will co-chair a new World Bank Group council that aims to address a looming jobs crisis in the Global South.
Together with former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet, Mr Tharman will co-chair the High-Level Advisory Council on Jobs for a two-year period ending in July 2026.
He will do so in his independent capacity after being advised by the Cabinet that it is in the national interest for him to perform this role, said the Istana on Aug 12.
World Bank Group president Ajay Banga said: “A job is the most meaningful yardstick of success for any individual – with a job comes dignity, pride and the ability to provide for yourself and your family.
“We are launching the council to set our development strategy on a foundation of creating employment opportunities in all corners of the globe.”
Some 1.2 billion young people in the Global South – a term usually used to refer to the developing world – are expected to become working-age adults in the next 10 years, with the jobs market expected to create 420 million jobs, leaving nearly 800 million without a clear career path.
The new advisory council will bring together leading experts across government, business, civil society and academia to offer thought leadership and strategies for creating large-scale employment opportunities.
These strategies will be examined within the World Bank Group with a view to piloting them.
Promising initiatives will then be scaled up to address the jobs challenge.
Mr Tharman said: “Good jobs are at the core of aspirations everywhere, but also a growing challenge in the face of rapidly advancing technologies, geo-economic uncertainty and climate threats.
“New strategies are needed to achieve sustained jobs and income growth among developing world populations, and the benefits this will bring for the global economy too.”
Dr Bachelet added that the jobs challenge is “unprecedented in modern history”, and that the council’s aim is to give young people a chance to “contribute to and benefit from a more inclusive global economy”.
The members of the council will be announced later, and the group aims to hold its first meeting at the 2024 World Bank Group-International Monetary Fund annual meetings in October.
Mr Tharman was elected as Singapore’s head of state in September 2023.
Before that, he had served for more than two decades in the Government, including as deputy prime minister, finance minister and education minister. He last served in the Government as senior minister, before he resigned to run for the presidency.
Mr Tharman has also held high-level appointments in international organisations, in areas such as global financial governance and global water sustainability.
Among other current international appointments, he chairs the board of the Group of 30, an independent global council of economic and financial leaders from the public and private sectors.
Mr Tharman also co-chairs the Global Commission on the Economics of Water, which aims to transform water governance.