The World Bank estimates that two-thirds of all jobs which currently exist in developing countries will be wiped out by automation.
The Bank notes that at the same time the Internet, smart phones and social media enable everyone to see exactly how everyone else lives.
Addressing the media at the IMF head-office in Washington, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said “I see this everywhere I go.
“So in the midst of these crises and with rising aspirations, we must change the way we work in development finance. We have to find new and innovative ways to reach the poor and make the world more secure and stable and to help the world grow,”the World Bank Chief said.
The Bank further noted that accelerations in technology are changing the global landscape.
Kim said the global economy is high on our agenda.
“We are encouraged to see stronger economic prospects after years of disappointing global growth,” he said. “However, we note there are still many downside risks which countries that have the fiscal space need to continue with structural reforms which are essential to accelerating sustainable and inclusive economic growth needed to end extreme poverty by 2030,” the World Bank Chief noted.
He said “We are meeting at a time when we face several overlapping crises, natural and manmade, all of which add urgency to our mission. We have conflicts, climate shocks, the worst refugee crisis since World War II and famine in parts of East Africa and Yemen, which the UN has called the worst in 70 years,”.
He said, ‘Here’s the good news, there’s never been a better time to find those win-win solutions. There’s trillions of dollars sitting on the sidelines earning little interest or even negative interest and investors are looking for better returns. That capital should be mobilised to help us meet the exploding aspirations of people all over the world. And with the crises we face, our task is much more urgent than we ever thought.”
“The Bank believes that globalization and free trade has had just an absolutely huge impact on poor people and poor countries. I think what you see is a reduction in inequality between countries,but increases in inequality within countries, especially OECD countries,”Kim said.
We also are aware of the fact that there are many who have not benefitted from globalisation, who are very angry at the fact that they have not benefitted.
“China has had the strongest experience, lifting 800 million people out of poverty, and that happened when it embraced the global market, when it opened itself to competition, when it engaged more and more in trade”, the World Bank Chief said.
Kim said that trade has been an extremely important part of global economic growth, and it’s been an extremely important part of the reduction in poverty, the tremendous reduction in poverty we have seen over the last 30 years,” Kim added.