A large number of young workers will be entering the labor force of developing countries in the coming years. Many of these economies have struggled to create well-paying jobs, and global headwinds are increasing. Value chain-based approaches can help identify distinct market opportunities across a range of firms, enabling countries to align policy actions with the needs of sectors that can create more and better jobs. Value Chains have been an important driver of job creation but a changing geoeconomic context require an evolution to these approaches, with a strong focus on local and regional value chains.
The Program aims to help decision-makers in emerging and developing economies to apply value chain-based economic development approaches, creating effective strategies to enable growth and job creation. It is designed for groups of policy makers, private sector representatives and technical specialists from a limited number of countries. Delegations would be led by senior policy makers responsible for economic development, with a focus on value chains and job creation (e.g. from Ministries of Planning or Industry). The initial cohort will focus on specific value chains in light manufacturing such as food processing or consumer goods to provide opportunities for peer learning across a set of similar situations.
The program will be delivered in collaboration with IFC and academic partners.
Participants in this program will:
- be introduced to the value chain-based economic development approach,
- learn about the diagnostic and strategy planning tools that can be used to assess the circumstances in a specific value chain and design a targeted action agenda based on a coherent strategic positioning of the location in this market and interactive exchanges between experts, government and the private sector
- understand a range of specific policy instruments that can be deployed to achieve prioritized improvements in the business environment, the value chain structure, and company performance.