President Tharman to co-chair World Bank jobs advisory council, will do so in independent capacity

Tharman to co-chair new World Bank initiative to address jobs crisis in the Global South

President Tharman Shanmugaratnam will be adding to his growing list of international roles with a high-profile position at the World Bank Group.

He will now be co-chair of the High-Level Advisory Council on Jobs, a new initiative by the international financial institution.

Tharman will co-chair World Bank council for two years

The President’s new appointment was announced by the Istana in a news release on Monday (12 Aug).

It said he would lead the council for two years, ending his term in July 2026.

The other co-chair will be former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet.

Tharman will take on World Bank role in his independent capacity

Mr Tharman will take on this role in his independent capacity after being advised by the Cabinet that it is in the national interest for him to do so.

In November 2023, Parliament voted to amend the Singapore Constitution, allowing the president and ministers to take on international appointments in their private capacities.

This can be done if the Cabinet advises that it is in the national interest for them to do so.

To that end, Mr Tharman, who was elected Singapore’s ninth president last September, currently has four international roles, said the Istana.

All of these roles were approved by the Cabinet and carry no remuneration.

Council will focus on looming jobs crisis in developing countries

In a press release on Monday, the World Bank said the High-Level Advisory Council on Jobs will focus on the looming jobs crisis in the Global South — a group of countries mostly in Africa, Asia and South America considered to be “developing”.

As nearly 800 million working-age adults in the grouping are expected to be unable to find jobs over the next 10 years, the Council will identify actionable policies and programmes to address the situation.

It will focus on youth and female employment opportunities, noting that the global labour force participation rate for women is just over 50%, compared with 80% for men.

The Council will gather “leading experts across government, business, civil society, and academia” to offer “thought leadership and actionable strategies for creating large-scale employment opportunities”, the statement added.

Good jobs ‘a growing challenge’: Tharman

Mr Tharman said good jobs, while being the “core of aspirations everywhere”, are also “a growing challenge”.

This comes in the face of rapidly advancing technologies, geoeconomic uncertainty and climate threats, he added, noting,

New strategies are needed to achieve sustained job and income growth among developing world populations, and the benefits this will bring for the global economy too.

The Council, which plans to meet regularly, is set to hold its first meeting during the 2024 World Bank Group-IMF Annual Meetings in October.

Its members will be announced “in the near future”.

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Featured image adapted from Tharman Shanmugaratnam on Facebook and World Bank Photo Collection on Flickr.