Organized retail, tourism and logistics, for example, are key sectors that could generate the jobs of the future. Developing health services, enabled by digital technologies, could be another win-win for South Asia, in particular for women, as demand is rising fast. The transition to high value regenerative agriculture may offer additional opportunities for income gains and job creation on and off the farm. Bhutan and Nepal can benefit from development of their hydro potential and associated industries and services.
Harnessing job opportunities in all sectors has implications for policies. In much of South Asia, complicated regulations, often designed to protect the poor and small firms, have the unintended consequence of discouraging hiring of workers and expansion by firms. A regular dialogue with the private sector can help identify key sector specific constraints. Moreover, distortions in capital and land markets favor bigger businesses and more capital-intensive investments and lead to much entrepreneurial talent remaining underutilized. The voice of small and informal businesses thus needs to be heard for employment policies to be fully effective.
To ensure women benefit from these new opportunities, barriers that keep women from looking for a job or that make it especially challenging for women to remain in work, will also need to be lowered. Keeping girls in school provides the foundation. But experience throughout South Asia shows that measures such as safe transport, harassment-free workplaces, and childcare can also play an important role. Besides, the Rana Plaza tragedy in Bangladesh is a reminder of the importance of ensuring that labor’s voice is heard.
One approach to change this is to use the concept of a Jobs Platform. Recognizing that job creation will require different responses in the varied South Asian countries, and in some cases within the countries, a jobs platform is a framework that covers the many issues that can affect job creation, while recognizing that progress can be made without needing to tackle all issues at once in every context. A focus on jobs-rich sectors helps define the scope of the challenge and identify the most immediate priorities. A focus on implementation will move stakeholders from plans to action. And a focus on monitoring will help ensure accountability for results.
This blog is part of a series that explores examples of policies, investments, and partnerships that are delivering results and that could be scaled to match the ambition of the World Bank’s new playbook for South Asia.
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