- ASEAN expressed intent to strengthen collaboration with the World Bank to promote sustainable job creation and address labour market disruptions from AI and the gig economy.
- Deputy Minister Liew Chin Tong emphasized the need for better-paying, higher-quality jobs that enhance social mobility amid technological and demographic shifts in the region.
- The partnership will leverage the World Bank’s analytical expertise to guide labour reforms, digital skills programs, and future-oriented employment policies across ASEAN nations.
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has signaled a keen interest in further intensifying cooperation with World Bank in its joint effort to promote regional job creation. The renewed emphasis on employment also aligns with growing fears over structural labour changes fueled by increasingly fast technological advancements, including the spread of artificial intelligence and the gig economy.
During a bilateral meeting conducted on the periphery of the 47th ASEAN Summit, ASEAN's Deputy Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry Liew Chin Tong underscored that the World Bank has become a major supporter in dealing with job-market dynamics. He pointed out that most workers in Malaysia and Indonesia are now doing gig-work, with sophisticated AI systems just starting to replace some jobs trends that underscore the need for producing higher-quality job opportunities.
In the course of the discussion, World Bank Vice-President for East Asia and the Pacific, Carlos Felipe Jaramillo, joined the Bank's Regional Director for the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei, Zafer Mustafaoglu, and Country Manager for Malaysia, Judith Anne Elizabeth Green, in reaffirming their institution's commitment to collaboration with ASEAN in addressing the employment challenge.
The discussion highlighted the potential for tapping into World Bank analytical capacity and global policy influence to enable ASEAN countries to develop more intelligent labour policies and unlock more sustainable employment growth. Minister Liew said the collaborative approach should not only concentrate on growing more jobs but also how they are of improved quality, pay higher wages and offer increased social mobility.
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Such jobs have been considered crucial for maintaining the wealth of the region in the midst of demographic change, such as an ageing population in some countries. The conversation between ASEAN and the World Bank is also placed against the larger context of international issues.
With automation and digital-platform work transforming labour markets, ASEAN nations stand at a crossroads: how to bring in more workers into the formal economy, up-skill the workforce, and make sure the benefits of growth are shared equally.
ASEAN's invitation to the World Bank indicates that the region is seeking out frameworks and assistance beyond the conventional development cooperation. By joining forces with the World Bank, ASEAN hopes to draw on the institution's research work in employment, skill formation and inclusive growth.
The collaboration has the potential to catalyse purposeful interventions in topics like digital skills development, labour market reforms and policies that look ahead to the implications of AI and gig-work on jobs. For ASEAN, the action represents a forward-looking effort to get ahead of structural labour trends instead of responding reactively.
