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Add to Preferred SourcesThe World Bank approved a $250 million development policy operation to help the Government of Bangladesh strengthen its capacity to create more, better-paid and quality jobs in a rapidly changing environment.
The Programmatic Jobs Development Policy Credit aims at supporting Bangladesh develop a stronger policy and institutional framework to address barriers to creating more and better jobs for citizens, including women, youth and the vulnerable population.
Despite Bangladesh’s robust economic growth, the pace of job creation has slowed in recent years, and almost stalled in the readymade garments sector. The growth rate for jobs fell to 1.8 percent in 2010-16 from 2.7 percent in 2003-10. Women, workers in lagging regions, and youth in particular face challenges in accessing quality jobs. Climate change has exacerbated this jobs challenge, underscoring the need to significantly increase employment in the non-agriculture sector.
“Bangladesh has made remarkable progress in accelerating growth and reducing poverty, but the rate of job creation has not kept up with economic growth. Creating more and better jobs is a prerequisite for the country to achieve its vision of upper-middle-income status,” said Qimiao Fan, World Bank Country Director for Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal.
To promote large-scale employment in diverse manufacturing sectors, the reform program will help improve the investment environment, lift barriers to doing business, and modernize customs and trade facilitation. The program will also help implement amendments to the labor law and reform the pensions program to ensure works are protected.
The program also aims to increase female labor force participation by increasing the availability of childcare for working mothers and targeting women and youth with training and employment services.
The Jobs Development Policy Credit is the first in a series of three operations that complements the World Bank portfolio in the country. The credit from the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) has a 30-year term, including a five-year grace period.
Original source: World Bank
Published on 12 December 2018