Maintaining South Asia’s Growth: How Governments Can Eliminate Barriers to Job Creation

South Asia has been the bright spot in the global economy for several years. This panel discussion, taking place alongside the launch of the World Bank’s April 2024 South Asia Development Update, will examine whether the region can remain an economic star, and explore the risks to the outlook, including from climate change. No other emerging market and developing economy region is as vulnerable to climate shocks as South Asia—yet, fragile fiscal positions limit governments’ ability to respond to increasingly frequent climate shocks. 

This puts the burden of adapting to climate change on individual firms, farms, and households. Weak job creation outside the agricultural sector is a particular constraint on households' and farmers’ livelihoods, and their ability to weather climate change.  The discussion will explore the obstacles to job creation in non-agricultural sectors and policies needed to remove these obstacles.