Stepping up focus on jobs for youth, women: World Bank VP after Bangladesh visit

World Bank Vice President for South Asia Johannes Zutt said, the organisation is stepping up their focus on supporting the government priority of creating jobs, notably for youth and women.

Johannes Zutt met senior government leaders, officials, and civil society representatives during his three-day visit to Bangladesh to discuss development priorities and areas of cooperation.

“The government places a high priority on large-scale job creation, alongside skills and investment, and the World Bank Group shares this commitment,” Zutt said on the last day of his visit today (17 March).

“In this context, we are stepping up our focus on supporting the government priority of creating jobs, notably for youth and women.”

During the visit, Zutt held meetings with the finance and planning minister, the commerce minister, the prime minister’s adviser on finance and planning, and the governor of Bangladesh Bank.

Highlighting labour market challenges, he said, “In the past decade, 14 million youth entered Bangladesh’s labor market, competing for only 8.7 million jobs. This means that nearly half of working-age youth did not find jobs. Young women face particularly steep barriers.”

“With global uncertainties rising, it is urgent for the government to undertake the long-pending macro-economic and financial sector reforms that are needed to address foundational bottlenecks to economic growth and job creation,” he added.

The World Bank Group said it is working to support countries in translating economic growth into job creation by investing in physical and human capital, improving the business environment, and mobilising private sector investment.

The World Bank has been a long-standing development partner of Bangladesh since its independence, committing over $46 billion in International Development Association (IDA) financing through grants, interest-free loans, and concessional credits.