SINGAPORE – Technology and telecommunications are changing the way businesses operate in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. But governments must ensure that the new era does not widen the economic divide between the digitally skilled and unskilled populations of Asia that were warned at Davos ’online Agenda meetings this week.
“You need to make sure that this does not lead to greater inequalities, between the knowledge professionals and others who can easily transition to remote work, and the workers of the blue collars and others who have to work, “Tharman warned Shanmugaratnam, Singapore ‘s prime minister and former deputy prime minister, in a panel discussion on Monday entitled” Renewing economic growth. “
Shanmugaratnam said that many businesses will not return to the old style based on face-to-face interaction, and that a kind of “hybrid economy” is emerging in which people meet in person but that remote work is this to stay.
“It is very important to transform employees into digital technologies, to make the most of their own jobs with these technologies,” he said. , he said, working with businesses to help workers train – enabling “a new level of inclusive growth.”
Economic recovery from the pandemic is a key theme at the inaugural sessions of the World Economic Forum, which will run through Friday ahead of a planned personal conference in Singapore in May. Smriti Zubin Irani, India’s minister of textiles, women and child development, shared a view from her country in South Asia, home to hundreds of millions of rural residents who suffer from a lack of access to digital devices.
“We need to work hard to ensure that those who do not have the technological skills are not used to opportunities,” she said, adding what Universal Service Centers call the Indian government. reach all rural blocs in the country and provide a range of e-government services while also expanding digital literacy.
Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda, also on the panel, said business and education should be encouraged to “boost economic growth and development.”
In a report published Monday by Oxfam, a UK NGO, 87% of 295 economists surveyed across 79 countries believe the coronavirus will lead to a significant increase or increase in income inequality in their country.
Tharman Shanmugaratnam, center, Singapore’s prime minister; Smriti Zubin Irani, top right, Indian textile minister, women and child development; and Haruhiko Kuroda, bottom left, Bank of Japan governor, taking part in an online debate on January 25th.
In general, Asia has been more successful in introducing the coronavirus than the West, allowing a faster economic recovery and promising faster growth in 2021. Expenditure on the government, central banks ’monetary policy and incremental vaccinations of citizens all support what they have received.
Reducing job skills will not only reduce the inequality gap but would also encourage further growth in the aftermath of a pandemic – particularly in Asia, with the economies that is emerging.
A report released by the WEF ahead of the Davos Agenda meetings said that upskilling could increase the gross domestic product of the Asia-Pacific region by 6.1% by 2030. That is higher than the estimate of 2.5% for the western Europe and 3.6% for North America.
“The benefits of upskilling [in the Asia-Pacific] … will be enabled as emerging Asian economies move to higher value regions that require the most productive use of skills, “the report noted.
During Monday’s panel discussion, Shanmugaratnam of Singapore did not comment on the WEF corporate meeting the city is going to host in a few months. But he stressed the need for countries to “dig up the multilateral system” and “rebuild some co-operative internationalism” so that they can invest more for the public good in the world. .