Jobs, economy discussed with Italian president, Pope Leo during President Tharman's Italy visit

President Tharman Shanmugaratnam made a working visit to Rome, Italy, from March 4 to 5, where he chaired a World Bank meeting, and had bilateral meetings with leaders from Italy and the Holy See.

On Wednesday (March 4), President Tharman met Italian President Sergio Mattarella where the two leaders exchanged views on regional and global developments. 

They also welcomed the growing cooperation between Singapore and Italy in areas including culture, defence, economy and science.

According to the Embassy of Italy in Singapore, bilateral relations between the two countries are supported by a "large and talented Italian community" of over 5,000 people, and a growing number of over 300 companies. 

The next day, President Tharman also had an audience with Pope Leo XIV at the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City, his first meeting with the pontiff.

They discussed the importance of interfaith understanding, and the opportunities and challenges posed by artificial intelligence for jobs, public discourse, and global stability and peace.

President Tharman also met Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and discussed how Singapore and the Holy See could strengthen bilateral relations. 

Jobs creation 'will matter critically' for Africa

President Tharman chaired a meeting of the World Bank Group's High-Level Advisory Council on jobs and spoke at the conference on jobs and economic development on Wednesday.

In his opening remarks at the conference, President Tharman pointed to step changes in the global environment, technology, and Africa's demographics — 1.2 billion young people entering the workforce within the next decade — as factors that affecting large-scale job creation.

"In order to address this fundamentally new environment, we therefore need a step change in the way we go about development too," President Tharman said.

Turning to why jobs creation in Africa matters, the President added: "We must succeed in creating jobs in Africa. It will matter critically for Africa, but it will also matter for peace, for global health, to contain forced migration, and to bend the arc of human well-being globally.

"Creating jobs for these 1.2 billion young people is global common good. It's not just about Africa."

President Tharman suggested strengthening schooling; making investments in broadband and electricity, and logistics; and focusing on growing sectors with large job-creating potential, as factors that can enable jobs creation in Africa.

"We can succeed if we make these steps changes — in public policy, in mobilising private finance as the World Bank is now very seriously embarked on, and in the way we organise ourselves within Africa and around the world," the President added.

He also urged stakeholders to look at jobs creation as a "global common good".

"There's room for optimism if we make these step changes, even with the odds on success are now much steeper than before," President Tharman said.

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editor@asiaone.com