As day breaks over the Philippines’ terraced rice fields, farmers prepare their harvests for transportation on recently completed farm-to-market roads. In Indonesia’s tourism villages, business owners welcome guests to engage with cultural traditions and explore handmade goods promoted through online platforms. Meanwhile, on Fiji’s Vanua Levu island, initiatives are in progress to enhance climate-resilient infrastructure, create employment, and facilitate capacity building to bolster tourism.
These developments demonstrate strategic investment's role in job creation throughout East Asia and the Pacific (EAP), an increasingly urgent mission. Approximately 1.2 billion young people in developing countries will enter the workforce over the upcoming decade. However, only a third may find employment unless job creation intensifies. Within EAP, 320 million will reach working age, but predictions indicate only 110 million new jobs may emerge.
East Asia and the Pacific (EAP), among the world's fastest-growing regions, has added 131 million new jobs over two decades, shifting from traditional farming to services and manufacturing. This shift to services and manufacturing has contributed to poverty reduction in most EAP countries since 2010. In Viet Nam, growth in labor income from these sectors accounted for most poverty reduction between 2010 and 2020, with similar trends observed in Cambodia, the Philippines, and Thailand.
The World Bank Group collaborates with EAP governments and other stakeholders to shape policies, finance projects, and encourage private investment for job creation. The Bank uses its data and knowledge to identify obstacles to private sector growth.
The organization’s research, including the Country Growth and Jobs Reports for the Philippines and Indonesia, offers policy recommendations. In Indonesia, enhancing job quality remains a challenge. In the Philippines, further gains require reforms promoting spatial convergence, increased productivity, improved resource allocation, and reversing the economy's inward shift.
The World Bank’s Development Policy Lending (DPL) plays a key role in implementing reforms: The Philippines Sustainable Recovery DPL has opened infrastructure services to foreign investment, potentially increasing manufacturing productivity by 3.2% and boosting job creation. The Indonesia Investment and Trade Reforms DPL has encouraged private investment, reforming trade policy and increasing Foreign Direct Investment by 23% in liberalized sectors, potentially creating 3.2 million jobs by 2026. Cambodia’s Growth and Resilience Development Policy Operation creates a more competitive business environment through streamlined registration and better small and medium enterprise (SME) credit access, decreasing business license processing times by 30%.
In the Philippines and Indonesia, new job-oriented operations are active. The Philippines Inclusive Growth and Jobs DPL addresses barriers to private investment and skills development. Indonesia’s Jobs and Growth DPL aims to create about 700,000 additional jobs by 2026.
In Indonesia, the Tourism Development Project has generated about 1.19 million jobs and attracted more than $870 million in private investment across six locations. Over 20,000 businesses expanded online, 84,000 tourism professionals received certification, and 18,000 tourism village residents developed new products. The project enhanced water access for 570,000 people and sanitation for 415,000 more.
In the Philippines, the Rural Development Project has created nearly 135,000 jobs (46% benefiting women), connecting previously isolated communities with over 2,000 kilometers of farm-to-market roads and new irrigation systems and infrastructure that have improved rural productivity.
In Fiji, the Tourism Development Program’s initial phase includes a $61.5 million investment, part of a ten-year, $200 million program. “Enhancing tourism in the North will provide jobs, spur local businesses, and inject much-needed investment into this region,” said Fiji’s Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka. This initiative aims to attract more visitors to Fiji’s Northern Division.
World Bank assistance has enabled 36.2 million people and businesses in EAP to access financial services. About 19.5 million individuals benefit from expanded economic opportunities, and 18.2 million are involved in social safety net programs.
In the Pacific Islands, the World Bank strengthens correspondent banking relationships. In Mongolia, support has improved market access for herders, benefitting nearly 14,000 people. Other projects focus on boosting women’s labor market participation in Lao PDR, Cambodia, and Samoa.
Despite these efforts, EAP faces lingering challenges. The working-age population is projected to decline from 1.47 billion in 2025 to 1.33 billion in 2045, youth unemployment remains high, and female workforce participation is behind. Automation, digitization, and AI continue to transform job markets, requiring EAP economies to implement structural reforms. These economies must invest in skills, harness technology, and ensure adaptability in a technology-driven job landscape.