14/04/2026

BIZ & FINANCE TUESDAY | APR 14, 2026 17 World Bank sounds alarm about looming jobs crisis

Sanchez’s visit is his fourth to China in four years as he seeks to position Spain as a bridge between Beijing and the 27-member European Union, whose relations with the United States show signs of strain. US President Donald Trump’s tariffs and unpredictable foreign policy have caused concern among Western leaders, many of whom – including from Britain, Canada and Germany – have flocked to Beijing, in recent months seeking closer ties. However, Sanchez stressed yesterday that trade between the EU and China was “imbalanced”, calling on Beijing to open its market to European imports. “We need China ... to open up so that Europe does not have to close itself off,“ Sanchez said, during a visit to Tsinghua University. He called on Beijing to “help us correct the current trade deficit ... A deficit that is unbalanced, which grew by a further 18% last year alone. And which is unsustainable for our societies in the medium and long term”. Last year, Spain, with a population of around 50 million, ran a trade deficit of €42.3 billion (RM2271 billion) with China, a country of more than 1.4 billion people. Spain’s own trade deficit with China, Sanchez added, accounts for 74% of the European country’s total deficit. The Spanish leader is also keen to boost trade with China after Trump, who is due to visit Beijing in May, threatened last month to cut trade with Spain. WASHINGTON: The Middle East war will dominate global finance officials’ talks this week in Washington, but World Bank President Ajay Banga ( pic ) is sounding the alarm about a bigger, looming crisis: a huge gap in jobs for the 1.2 billion people who will reach working age in developing countries in the next 10 to 15 years. At current trajectories, those economies will generate only about 400 million jobs, leaving a deficit of 800 million jobs, Banga told Reuters. The former Mastercard CEO admits that focusing people on the long-term is daunting, given a series of short-term shocks that have buffeted the global economy since the Covid-19 pandemic, the most recent being the war in the Middle East. Banga says he is determined to ensure that finance officials stay focused on those longer-term challenges like creating jobs, connecting people to the electricity grid and ensuring access to clean water. “We have to walk and chew gum at the same time. Short-velocity cycle is what we’re going through. Longer velocity is this jobs circumstance or water,” Banga said in an interview taped last week. Thousands of finance officials from around the globe will gather in Washington this week for the spring meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund under the shadow of the US-Israel war with Iran that threatens to slow global growth and jack up inflation. The extent of the hit to the economy will depend on the durability of a two-week ceasefire announced by President Donald Trump last week, just hours before promised strikes that Trump said would destroy Iran’s civilisation. The ceasefire has halted most attacks. But it has not ended Iran’s effective blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which has caused the biggest-ever disruption to global energy supplies, or calmed a parallel war between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon. The World Bank’s governing body, the Development Committee, outlined plans to work with developing countries to streamline policy and regulatory conditions that have hampered investment and job creation for years. Discussions will touch on transparency

o Some 800 million people in developing countries

face unemployment in next 10 to 15 years

around permits, anti-corruption, labour law, land law, impediments to opening a business, logistics, better trade systems, and non-price barriers in trade, Banga said. He is upbeat that solutions can be found to help find employment – and dignity – for young people and create opportunities for private companies catering to their needs. “I don’t know that you can ever get to a situation of utopia and everybody is taken care of in the coming 15 years. I would doubt that’s going to happen, but if you don’t do it, the implications are quite severe in terms of illegal migration and instability,” Banga said. United Nations data showed more than 117 million people were displaced worldwide as of 2025. Banga said companies in developing countries themselves were starting to expand globally, including India’s Reliance Industries and the Mahindra Group, and Dangote in Nigeria. Banga said his discussions with officials in developing countries showed their interest in creating more – and better jobs – for the next generation. In addition to jobs, water will be a big focus. The World Bank, in conjunction with other development banks, is set to announce a push to ensure that one billion more people have secure access to clean water, adding to existing

global trade or outsourcing from developed countries: infrastructure, agriculture for small farmers, primary health care, tourism and value-added manufacturing. Those sectors are less likely to be immediately affected by advancements in artificial intelligence, he said. “The problem is, we can’t do this alone. We’ve got to get this snowball to roll downhill, gathering a lot of snow as it goes along, to reach that amazing number of 800 million,” he said. – Reuters

initiatives to connect 300 million households in Africa with electricity, and to improve health care. The World Bank focused on human and physical infrastructure required for the jobs creation push during last fall’s meetings of the IMF and World Bank, and will continue the cycle with an emphasis on attracting private sector investment during this fall’s meetings in Bangkok, Banga said. The bank identified five sectors that would benefit from investment and are not reliant on

Spanish premier calls China trade imbalance with EU ‘unsustainable’ BEIJING: Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called China’s trade imbalance with the European Union “unsustainable” yesterday, as he began a three-day visit to Beijing where he hopes to strengthen economic ties. agreed to expand access for a range of Spanish products, including pork and cherries.

The Spanish government has said that Spain’s exports to China rose 6.8% in 2025, crediting the growth to strong ties with Beijing. Spain holds special appeal for Chinese investors, in part because its economy is growing at one of Europe’s fastest rates and energy costs remain relatively low, said Claudio Feijoo, a China expert at the Technical University of Madrid. “China perceives Spain as relatively friendly, less confrontational toward China than other countries and likely more independent from Washington. This allows for more autonomous decision-making,“ he told AFP. “Spain is also seen as a gateway to Europe, Latin America and North Africa. It can function as a hub – a place from which multiple markets can be accessed at once.” Agricultural products have the greatest potential in China, he said, noting that the country “cannot produce all the food it needs, or at least not at the quality required by its population”, while Spain is a major producer of many food items. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning last week called Spain “an important partner of China within the EU”, adding that Sanchez’s visit offers a chance to “promote bilateral relations to an even higher level”. King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia paid a state visit to China last November, the first by a Spanish monarch in 18 years, highlighting the closeness of ties. Sanchez, one of Europe’s few remaining left-wing leaders, is travelling with his wife Begona Gomez and Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares. – AFP

Sanchez checks a robotic hand during a visit to the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing yesterday. – AFPPIC

attract new investors for the eurozone’s fourth-largest economy and to gain access to China’s critical raw materials. He visited the headquarters of Chinese tech giant Xiaomi and toured a technology exhibit at the Chinese Academy of Sciences yesterday. Sanchez is then set to meet top Chinese officials, including President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang, today. During his visit to China in April 2025, Beijing

Trump’s threats came after Spain denied the use of its military bases for American air strikes against Iran, a key economic partner of Beijing. Spanish government sources said a primary goal of the trip is particularly to secure greater market access for agricultural and industrial goods, and to explore joint ventures in the technology sector. Sanchez is also expected to use the visit to