The Future of Work
Across ASEAN
Policy Prerequisites for the
Fourth Industrial Revolution
Recommendations and Country Studies

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

The Future of Work Across ASEAN
Policy Prerequisites for the Fourth Industrial Revolution

This white paper was edited by John Karr, Benjamin Lokshin, and Katherine Loh fromresearch carried out by The Asia Foundation’s regional staff and consultants, including
Socheata Sann, Fadila Ayu Hapsari, Sunita Anandarajah, Patrick Bolaños, Apichai
Sunchindah, Huong Nguyen, Sarah Kuruvilla, Diana Kelly Alvord, Soniya Sharma, Toffy
Charupatanapongse, Drew Hasson, and Rosita Armytage. Randeep Sudan served as areviewer.
Graphic design and layout by Ananda K. Maharjan.
Cover image by ILO/Maxime Fossat (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0).
Produced with support from Microsoft Philanthropies.

A DIGITAL ECONOMY THAT WORKS FOR EVERYONE
This white paper is the first in a series of Asia Foundation reports examining the politicaland economic dimensions of the region’s digital transformation within the context
of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The paper outlines critical policy and institutional
adjustments needed for 4IR readiness in the region.
The Asia Foundation is committed to a digital economy that delivers shared prosperity andinclusive growth at every level of society.
For more information on our work visit www.asiafoundation.org.

© The Asia Foundation
February 2020

Contents

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

41.

KEY RECOMMENDATIONS

11		

Policy Partnerships to Improve Labor Market Dashboards

13

Enhanced Capacity to Deliver Skills Training that Fits the Market

16

Structural Reforms to Promote More Innovative Economies

19

4IR TECHNOLOGIES ALTERING THE LANDSCAPE
OF ASEAN INDUSTRIES

23

2.

3. MACROECONOMIC AND POLITICAL TRENDS
AFFECTING WORK ACROSS ASEAN

31

4. HOW ASEAN COUNTRIES ARE PREPARING THEIRWORKFORCES FOR THE IMPACT OF 4IR

39

Cambodia

40

Indonesia

50

Malaysia

62

Timeline of ASEAN Efforts to Address 4IR

72

Philippines

74

Singapore

84

Thailand95

Vietnam105

OUR THANKS TO THE CONTRIBUTORS

117

REFERENCES

118

3

Executive Summary
Is the Future to be Feared?
Most experts agree that the global economy is entering the Fourth Industrial Revolution(4IR) – the most recent transformative shift in the way that we create and transfer services,
goods, and information among buyers and sellers. This revolution, like the three that came
before it, is driven by a set of interrelated technological advancements that present thebasis for new economic paradigms. The First Industrial Revolution of the late 18th andearly 19th centuries was marked by the arrival of steam-powered engines and machinesthat allowed people to convert wool into textiles, ore into iron, and wood pulp into paper
more quickly and efficiently. The Second Industrial Revolution of the 19th and early 20th
centuries was characterized by the spread of electric bulbs that lit up the night, telegraphsthat transferred messages in a split second, and railroads that shuttled people acrosscontinents. Later, the Third Industrial Revolution of the late 20th century saw a proliferationof digital technologies: computers powerful enough to send humans into space and back;to automate many manufacturing, banking, and communication systems; and to enable
the global web of interconnected systems that we today call the internet. In the 21st
century, the Fourth Industrial Revolution, also often referred to as “Industry 4.0”, is driven
by technologies that mimic and transform many human and biological processes, including
artificial intelligence and machine learning, “smart” systems based on the internet of things(IoT), and advanced data systems that enable real-time and predictive analytics.
In each historical era, technological innovation has disrupted, replaced, or transformed
existing industries and generated intense debate around the impact of these changes
on jobs. In 1589, the English inventor William Lee created the first mechanical knitting
machine, but he was denied a patent by Queen Elizabeth I out of concern that his
invention would make thousands of English hand-knitters unemployed. Lee promptly
moved to a friendlier regulatory environment in France, where he established a workshop
and continued improving a technology which is still in use today. In the mid-1800s, as
4

THE FUTURE OF WORK ACROSS ASEAN

ILO/Asrian Mirza (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

sewing machines were introduced in Europe and the United States, numerous factorybased machines were destroyed by tailors who feared that the technology would eliminate
their jobs. Stories of deep unease regarding the impact of new technologies on jobs andlivelihoods can be found at every stage of each prior revolution.
This collective anxiety was not unfounded. As the First Industrial Revolution began,mechanical weaving, sewing, and other labor-saving textile production tools were
employed to disrupt an array of traditional “cottage” industries which had formed aroundthe production of clothing, shoes, and household textiles. During this period, jobs werelost and communities were reoriented towards larger-scale production efforts. However, as
the widespread transformation of traditional ways of working took place, what ultimately
emerged was the textile and apparel industry – a sector of the modern economy thathas led to massive increases in living standards, new employment opportunities, higher
productivity, and lower consumer costs worldwide. What’s more, rather than eliminating
the handmade industry, mechanization instead created new markets for higher-quality,
higher-value bespoke products.
In hindsight, it is clear that technological innovation has consistently generated greater
productivity and more jobs for workers over the long run. But Queen Elizabeth’s concern
for the hand-knitters was not entirely misplaced: for workers with outdated skills,
innovation can be a cause for legitimate pain and uncertainty. As the Fourth Industrial
Revolution (4IR) unfolds, new and emerging technologies are expected to, again, drasticallyalter the economic landscape and the ways that workers navigate it.
POLICY PREREQUISITES FOR THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

5

These incipient technologies will help many companies reach higher levels of productivity
at lower input costs by capitalizing on an era in which markets are increasingly
unconstrained by borders. At the same time, it is possible that entire industries may betransformed beyond recognition, their workforces replaced or substantially augmented
by software and machines. ASEAN market and labor forces – already evolving rapidly inresponse to the trends in the region’s economic, political, and environmental landscape –are also in flux thanks to the changes brought about by 4IR technologies.

Preparing for the Future of Work
Undoubtedly, ASEAN’s future jobs will look quite different from those we know today. We
cannot predict the direction or scope of the transformation before us, but we can takelessons from the past and knowledge of our current capabilities to understand shiftinglabor markets, help workers adapt, and set a policy agenda for a future of work that is
productive and rewarding for the region’s people.
This paper examines the challenges confronting ASEAN policymakers in the face of the
Fourth Industrial Revolution and how they can work together with other stakeholders
to promote prosperity, jobs, and inclusive growth. Drawing on interviews and research
conducted by The Asia Foundation’s in-country teams in Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia,
the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, this paper describes some of the key
hurdles facing ASEAN economies was well as recent and ongoing efforts by both the public
and private sectors to address them.
The paper also suggests a set of practical steps that can be taken now to benefit theregion’s economies and make them more resilient to uncertainty and change.

POLICY PARTNERSHIPS TO IMPROVELABOR MARKET DASHBOARDS
Building better “dashboards” that enable the region’s policymakers to identify, track,share, and interpret labor market trends will lead to an enhanced capacity to formulate
effective policy responses to the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
While we cannot predict the precise impacts the Fourth Industrial Revolution will bringto the region, history suggests that we can expect an increase in the variability and rateof change in skills demand, as new job categories appear that break conventional molds
and sectoral distinctions. What it means to be an assembly worker in an Indonesian
automobile factory today may be very different than in ten or twenty years, when basic
6

THE FUTURE OF WORK ACROSS ASEAN

assembly processes will have been mostly automated and vehicle technology itself may
have changed dramatically. Unless policymakers and governments enhance their capacity
to monitor these changes, shifts in skills demand will occur at a rate that outpaces theability of governments to track and understand these trends.
At a basic level, better data is needed for policymakers to strengthen their understandingof the challenges ahead. More specifically, policymakers need to mine data from previously
untapped resources and partnerships that can help them anticipate future trends inthe labor market and gaps in their workforce’s skills, knowledge, and training. Throughcoordination at the national and regional level, policymakers can work with the private
sector in order to unlock useful market data that already exists. Innovative new publicprivate partnerships can help policymakers establish new data-sharing initiatives that giveleaders better tools to predict skills shortages and gaps in training capacity. Technology
can also play a role, as connected databases and artificial intelligence systems make itpossible to track real-time trends at a massive scale.
Another challenge is to coordinate across ministries and agencies, as well as between
public and private sectors. As governments enhance their capacity to collect actionable
market intelligence, they must be able to share it with stakeholders in meaningful ways.
This can be done through reducing bureaucratic silos among ministries. The creationof cross-ministerial working groups on labor market trends within government or theformation of policy co-creation workshops to engage experts in and out of government
are two examples of how this can be achieved. ASEAN economies can also create more
realistic plans for upskilling and training by conducting long term planning activities thatincorporate strategic foresight and forward-looking research.

The Asia Foundation/Tran Giang Linh

POLICY PREREQUISITES FOR THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

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ENHANCED CAPACITY TO DELIVER SKILLSTRAINING THAT FITS THE MARKET
By encouraging innovation and adaptation in skills training ecosystems, policymakers
can create more flexible and responsive tools to address upskilling and retraining
needs that reduce deployment times, increase precision in the delivery of services, andrespond to skills gaps as they emerge.
As employers demand new and different skills, traditional education and training
pathways may fall out of step with the evolving marketplace. This problem is particularly
severe for communities that are typically excluded from elite technical education
pathways – most notably women, rural people, and other disadvantaged populations.
Therefore, ASEAN economies should enhance their capacity to respond to skill shortages
by encouraging inclusive innovation and adaptation in the training ecosystem. In doing so,they will create more flexible and responsive systems and resources that can be deployed
quickly as new skills gaps are identified.
Policymakers should focus on the addition of new capabilities to existing education andvocational training services, the enhancement in discoverability of these services, and thecreation of new models of continuing education. For example, governments could choose
to focus on innovative, flexible credentialing models. In addition, special attention shouldbe paid to creating pathways for female workers and other marginalized populations that
can help these groups access the requisite skills development resources necessary for theupcoming economic repositioning.
Policymakers must work with academia, civil society, and private sector actors to explore
new partnerships, informed by improved labor market dashboards, in order to fostera skills training ecosystem responsive to the needs of a rapidly evolving labor market.
Stakeholders must also work together to ensure that workers and employers are awareof and able to access upskilling resources. New means of communication, such as social
media, could facilitate this, and policymakers must work to design and promote innovative
upskilling models that meet the needs of women and the underserved.

8

THE FUTURE OF WORK ACROSS ASEANSTRUCTURAL REFORMS TO PROMOTEMORE INNOVATIVE ECONOMIESThe ASEAN region is at a crossroads, where labor-intensive, export-led growth may
no longer present the benefits it once did due to the impact of 4IR technologies. In
response, ASEAN policymakers should redouble their efforts to institute key structuralreforms that strengthen local innovation ecosystems and enable the region’s
entrepreneurs to harness 4IR transformations in ways that generate jobs.
It appears that, from the standpoint of economic history, the greatest benefits oftechnology-driven innovation accrued to the societies and governments that remained
open to it. Policymakers are advised to consider prior periods of technology-drivenchange; reflect on the past and future of work; and note that, on balance, innovation
has historically led to periods of significant job creation. The transformation of so-called“cottage industries” during the First Industrial Revolution – in which local artisansdeveloped hand-crafted products for local distribution – is a case in point. During thisperiod, innovations in textile manufacturing helped produce clothing more rapidly andat a lower cost, ultimately leading to the formation of the garment industry – a source of
global job creation for centuries thereafter.
Today, the Fourth Industrial Revolution presents similar opportunities to establish newcenters of innovation and growth within ASEAN. Already, a cohort of talented young
entrepreneurs, software engineers, web developers, and product designers are building
creative communities in Southeast Asia’s urban hubs that have produced dozens of globally
impactful companies and inventions, including billion-dollar internet companies like Grab,
Gojek, Tokopedia, Lazada, and Sea. As the world economy shifts toward digitally-enabled
services, the future of ASEAN’s industrial competitiveness and income growth lies largely inthese innovation and knowledge sectors of the broader economy.
Policymakers can capitalize on this shift by promoting policies that aim to grow knowledge
and innovation ecosystems within the region. They can do this by promoting a governancesystem and business environment that encourages businesses in the knowledge economy
to innovate. Critical policy considerations include rules that promote domestic andforeign direct investment, technology transfer, the repatriation of human capital, tax
incentives for entrepreneurial behavior, as well as regulations that protect and encourage
the development of intellectual property. In doing so, policymakers will help strengthen
and diversify key sectors of local economies that are likely to drive innovation, sectoral

POLICY PREREQUISITES FOR THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

9growth, and job creation. Conversely, governments should steer away from policies that
inhibit innovation by engaging in protectionism, over-regulation, or the creation of “walled
gardens” online.
Finally, echoing the conclusions above, this paper encourages policymakers to use
cross-sectoral collaboration and experimentation to understand and prepare for future
innovations. While recognizing the unpredictable nature of economic transformation,
policymakers can use techniques like scenario planning and regulatory sandboxes to create
thorough roadmaps based on the best available evidence.

STRUCTURE OF THIS PAPER
This report is organized as follows: the Key
Recommendations section details the above policy
interventions through the lens of challenges
presented by the expanding adoption of 4IR
technologies. Part II provides an overview of thetechnologies most anticipated to impact ASEAN
economies. Part III surveys the macroeconomic andpolitical factors affecting work across the region.
Finally, Part IV presents seven country case studies,
which assess the current state of affairs of eachcountry’s labor force and the actions – as well as
gaps in those actions – policymakers are taking toprepare its workforce for the impact of 4IR. Eachcountry assessment also suggests a path forward:
steps that policymakers can take now to prepare
their workers to not only survive but prosper in thelabor market of the future. This report’s analysis
makes clear how truly cross-cutting a phenomenon
4IR is; policymakers tasked with managing 4IR
effects in ASEAN will require better data andevidence, a vision for what future ASEAN economies
should look like, and deeper cross-sectoral
The Asia Foundation/Conor Ashleigh10

THE FUTURE OF WORK ACROSS ASEAN

collaboration towards achieving that vision.

PART 1The Asia Foundation/Karl Grobl

Key Recommendations
A key goal of labor and employment policy is to create the conditions within local
economies whereby citizens can develop the skills necessary to gain access to higher
paying jobs. In addition, there is a need to support policies that foster a resilient,innovative, and forward-looking economy which promotes knowledge work as acomplement to more traditional forms of employment, and helps local entrepreneurs
establish firms that can compete on the global stage.
This paper examines the challenges confronting ASEAN policymakers in the face of the Fourth
Industrial Revolution and how they can work together with relevant stakeholders to promote
prosperity, jobs, and inclusive growth. In particular, this paper suggests a set of practical steps
that can be taken now that will benefit the region’s economies regardless of the shape of thecoming decade’s labor market shifts. Proposed interventions highlight the need for reforms
that 1) improve data and evidence for policymaking, 2) make education and vocational
training more adaptable and responsive, and 3) promote more innovative economies.

POLICY PREREQUISITES FOR THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

11

The following recommendations are provided to ASEAN member states tosupport their efforts to measure and respond to technology-driven changes
in local labor markets. Taken together, these recommendations can aid ASEAN
leaders in their efforts to capture the benefits of 4IR innovations that lead toinclusive economic growth.

POLICY PARTNERSHIPS TO IMPROVE LABOR MARKETDASHBOARDS:
To formulate responsive labor market reforms, policymakers must strengthen
their understanding of the challenges ahead with better data. Throughcoordinated policymaking at the national and regional level and innovative
new public-private partnerships, policymakers can leverage new repositories
of workforce data to more accurately evaluate current and future trends inthe labor market.

ENHANCED CAPACITY TO DELIVER SKILLS TRAINING
THAT FITS THE MARKET:ASEAN countries must upgrade their existing education and vocational
training ecosystems in ways that make them more adaptable and responsiveso that gaps in skills can be addressed more rapidly and effectively. This canbe achieved through smart government action and more robust partnerships
with private sector actors. Policymakers should also develop new approaches
to continuous learning, upskilling, and credentialing that are more accessible
to women and underserved populations.

STRUCTURAL REFORMS THAT PROMOTE MOREINNOVATIVE ECONOMIES:
Policymakers can address the shifting demand for workers away from laborintensive roles and towards more knowledge-centric jobs by promoting
policies that aim to grow the local digital and service economies as well as theknowledge sector, where demand for workers is likely to expand.

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THE FUTURE OF WORK ACROSS ASEAN

POLICY PARTNERSHIPS TO
IMPROVE LABOR MARKETDASHBOARDS
To formulate effective policies that are responsive to 4IR challenges,
policymakers need accurate, up-to-date analytics that help them anticipate
labor market trends and gaps in workforce skills. They must explore new
public-private partnerships that give policymakers access to data withwhich to evaluate labor market trends. They must also collaborate acrossbureaucracies that have traditionally isolated questions of technology andthe economy into specific ministries, and draw in expert voices from outsideof government to better assess the future of work and improve governments’capacity to plan for long-term upskilling needs.

Challenge: The Fourth Industrial Revolution will increase the variability and rateof change of skills demand in ASEAN in ways that outpace the speed at whichgovernments can gather relevant, up-to-date labor market data and thereby
accurately evaluate these shifts.

Recommendation: Expand governments’ access to key data and knowledge resources
necessary for smart and responsive labor policy.
• Leverage Existing Private Sector Resources: Policymakers can develop a better
understanding of how the demand for skills and competencies is evolving by examining
a broader basket of market and product data, in particular that which is alreadyavailable on online platforms. They can work with global labor market platforms andservice providers such as Burning Glass, EMSI, and LinkedIn, as well as local job searchplatforms, and enable data sharing through programmable interfaces (APIs) and open
data.

POLICY PREREQUISITES FOR THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

13

The Asia Foundation/Andrew Thornley• Establish Public-Private Data Sharing Initiatives: To develop new and co-created data
resources, ASEAN member states – both nationally and regionally – should explore
new, secure public-private labor market data sharing partnerships with a range ofprivate sector and CSO actors that can give the region’s leaders new tools to predictskills shortages and gaps in training capacity while respecting data privacy. This
will also require building skills and capabilities in data analytics within governmentorganizations tasked with policies related to the future of work.

Challenge: The future of labor market innovation will be a rapid, cross-sectoral
process that challenges traditional government policymaking.

Recommendation: Enhance the capacity of ASEAN member states to craft responsive andtimely upskilling policies which are multi-faceted and reflect the input of experts fromacross government, academia, and the private sector.
• Reduce Bureaucratic Silos: Create cross-ministerial working groups within ASEAN
which can address labor market issues horizontally within bureaucracies andenhance the capacities of ASEAN member states to implement nimble and responsive
approaches to upskilling needs. An end goal of these working groups would be toformulate cross-sectoral strategies for addressing 4IR challenges.

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THE FUTURE OF WORK ACROSS ASEAN

The Asia Foundation/Conor Ashleigh• Promote Policy Co-Creation Workshops: Policymakers should build constructive
and collaborative partnerships with experts and academics across many fields
through policy co-creation workshops which focus on formulating strategies andrecommendations for skill shortages.
• Enhance Government Capacity to Conduct Long Term Planning on Upskilling:
Policymakers should develop new mechanisms for long term planning that incorporate
strategic foresight and forward-looking research. Singapore’s Centre for Strategic
Futures can serve as a useful role model in this regard.

CASE STUDY: LABOR MARKET DATA IN SINGAPORE
Singaporean policymakers consistently collect and assess data on the workforce andmarketplace to monitor current labor market demand and make evidence-based predictions
on the future needs of the labor market. For example, the Manpower Ministry has madeit compulsory for companies to report retrenchments within five working days, if five or
more staff are retrenched within six months. This enables the government and unions to
act on the data more quickly. There have also been calls to use data from job postings on thenational Jobs Bank more fully; for example, if a vacancy for a particular type of job isre-posted, it may indicate more Singaporeans need skills in that area.
POLICY PREREQUISITES FOR THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

15

ENHANCED CAPACITY TO
DELIVER SKILLS TRAINING THATFITS THE MARKET
Governments should enhance the upskilling ecosystem’s capacity to meetthe needs of the future by proactively upgrading existing educational andvocational training services, improving their accessibility and discoverability,
and creating new models for continuing education. Policymakers mustensure certifications meet regional standards and initiatives serve womenand underserved populations, such as those in rural regions.

Challenge: Traditional methods of skill building and technical and vocational
education and training (TVET) are not responsive enough to match the increasing
variability in labor market skills demand, nor do they match the demand forupskilling from workers themselves.

Recommendation: Policymakers must work with academia, civil society, and private sector
actors in order to design and promote creative models of continuing education, training,and skills building.
• Reform Curricula to Address the Changing Nature of the Workforce: ASEAN has
undertaken a series of exploratory efforts to promote education reform in the region,
including the development of the ASEAN Workplan on Education. The Workplan
should be expanded to cover curriculum reform that addresses the evolving needsof increasingly innovative economies – noting STEM as well as the promotion offoundational skills such as literacy, numeracy, digital literacy, critical thinking, creative
problem solving, and emotional intelligence.
• Exploit Private Sector Partnerships to Develop New Models of Upskilling: Employers,
more so than governments or training providers, have direct insights into workforce
skills gaps, and they have an inherent interest in growing the pool of hireable workers

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THE FUTURE OF WORK ACROSS ASEAN

The Asia Foundation/Karl Grobl

with industry-relevant skills. However, not every company in ASEAN is able to convey
these insights to government, and few administer formal training programs in-house.
Policymakers can bridge these gaps by facilitating partnerships around curriculum
development that align public and private upskilling programs with the needs of themarket and with consensus-based standards for certification. Employers can take ona dual role: first, in articulating which skills are needed among their workforce, andsecond, in supporting awareness and implementation of relevant upskilling programs.

• Promote Lifelong Learning as an Education Principle in Partnership with Business: As
businesses face more demanding and competitive environments, business leaders will
require that more of their employees embrace lifelong learning. ASEAN member statesshould therefore explore ways to incentivize businesses to upskill their workers as wellas ways to incentivize workers to seek training opportunities.
• Consider Innovative, Flexible Credentialing Models: With rapid changes in technology
and continuously evolving business models, ASEAN member states should consider
introducing more flexible training models, including those that can be delivered
online, such as micro-masters degrees. These degrees require relatively modest timecommitments from workers, and are low cost, knowledge-intensive credentials thatcan better meet the needs of a changing market. Other innovative models include ondemand training, on-ramp training programs, and work-based learning experiences.

POLICY PREREQUISITES FOR THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

17

IMF Photograph/Stephen Jaffe (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Challenge: Workers remain unclear on the upskilling resources available to them.

Recommendation: Improve accessibility and discoverability of upskilling resources.
• Improve Accessibility and Discoverability of Resources with Special Focus on Womenand the Underserved: Governments and the private sector should work together toensure that workers and employers are aware of and able to access upskilling resources.
Governments should also work to create better pathways for women to return to theworkforce after a career break and to advance further within high-growth fields suchas STEM. New means of communication, such as social media, can facilitate this. ASEAN
member states should examine, as appropriate for each country context, how social andother digital media can be leveraged to raise the visibility of new skill building services
and generate data on the quality and accessibility of current offerings.

CASE STUDY: ONLINE LEARNING IN THAILAND
In Thailand, a national online course platform called Thai MOOC (massive online open
course) was established in 2017 through a partnership between the Ministry of Digital
Economy and Society, Ministry of Science and Technology, and Ministry of Education. Thai
MOOC is built on the open source edX framework, and its aim is to fulfill the “Thailand
4.0” vision of ensuring lifelong learning for citizens. The project also has partnerships withgovernment organizations and universities. This unusual model allows people to enroll
remotely in short-term courses and earn certificates that are recognized by Thai universities.
18

THE FUTURE OF WORK ACROSS ASEANSTRUCTURAL REFORMS THATPROMOTE MORE INNOVATIVEECONOMIES
Job losses will occur as 4IR disruptions ripple through certain industries, someof which have been relied upon as key drivers of growth for the ASEAN region.
Policymakers may be tempted or pressured to sustain these sectors, but theyshould instead focus on growing the local digital and service economy where,
ultimately, future opportunities for growth and job creation reside. They cando this by promoting a governance system and business environment thatencourages the private sector to innovate. This includes policies that promote
domestic and foreign direct investment, technology transfer, the repatriation ofhuman capital, tax incentives for entrepreneurial behavior, and regulations that
protect and encourage the development of intellectual property. Conversely,
governments should steer away from policies that inhibit innovation by creating
walled gardens or separating local networks from global ones. Recognizing theunpredictable nature of economic transformation, policymakers can create
thorough plans based on the best available evidence.

Challenge: Technology may adversely disrupt sectors of the economy that wereonce drivers of growth, and policymakers may feel pressure to sustain these sectors.

Recommendation: Promote the growth of digital and service economies that will
generate new, higher-value employment opportunities and offset job losses occurring inother sectors.
• Encourage Proactive, Business-Enabling Policy Measures that Lay the Structural
Foundations for Innovation and Inclusive Growth: To support the growth of thedigital and service economies, governments should pursue key policy reforms on crossborder data issues, tax incentives to encourage investment, a predictable and nondiscriminatory digital service tax policy, and immigration and work visa rules designed
to accommodate the demand for skilled digital entrepreneurs and knowledge workers.
POLICY PREREQUISITES FOR THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

19

The Asia Foundation/Ted Alcorn

Protecting and promoting the development of intellectual property rights will also
encourage firms to innovate.

• Encourage Global Interconnectedness and Resist the Rise of a “Splinternet”: ASEAN
member states should avoid the “walled-garden” approach to managing internet
resources as such efforts ultimately inhibit the growth of digital service and knowledge
economy jobs.

Challenge: It is difficult for policymakers to track and predict the real effects of new
and emerging technologies that are not yet widely adopted.

Recommendation: Use cross-sectoral collaboration and experimentation to understandand prepare for future innovations.
• Conduct Scenario Planning around Potential 4IR Transformations: Scenario planningapproaches have proven helpful for policymakers seeking to understand and prepare
for potentially transformative innovations, from self-driving cars to drones. ASEAN
countries would do well to pursue such an approach, working with cross-governmental
counterparts and citizens to “wargame” the implications of various policies vis-à-vis key
knowledge and service sectors’ job demand.
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THE FUTURE OF WORK ACROSS ASEAN

The Asia Foundation/Conor Ashleigh• Build Regulatory Sandboxes: For cases where current regulatory frameworks do notproperly account for new innovations, policymakers should allow the private sector
to engage in the context of “regulatory sandboxes” – clearly delimited spaces where
innovators have permission to work out their ideas in coordination with regulatory
bodies.

CASE STUDY: PROMOTING INNOVATION IN MALAYSIAThe Malaysian Government has acknowledged the importance of the digital economy
by undertaking concerted efforts to spur digital transformation. The Malaysia Digital
Economy Corporation (MDEC), a government-owned institution responsible for the
management of the Multimedia Super Corridor in Malaysia as a technology industry
and commerce zone, is tasked with spearheading Malaysia’s Digital Hub and various
technopreneurship programs to attract global and local start-ups. This resulted in related
investments of RM16.3 billion in 2016. The Malaysian Global Innovation and Creativity
Centre (MaGIC) has become an important incubator of new startups and a catalyst within
the digital entrepreneurship community.

POLICY PREREQUISITES FOR THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

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22Asia Foundation/Leandro
THE FUTURE OF
WORK ACROSS ASEAN
The
JustenPART 2The Asia Foundation/Conor Ashleigh

4IR Technologies
Altering the Landscapeof ASEAN Industries
How will artificial intelligence affect the transportation industry? What skills will beneeded for the next generation of workers in high-tech agriculture? What employment
options are available to migrant workers in the garments sector should their jobs be
replaced by robots? Labor market predictions rely not only on accurate economic data,
statistics, and a clear-eyed analysis of the larger macroeconomic and political trends
that affect work across ASEAN, but also an understanding of the complex technologies
affecting the future of work. This section surveys several technologies changing thenature of jobs in ASEAN now and in the years to come.
POLICY PREREQUISITES FOR THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

23

Abdul Razak Latif / Shutterstock.com

Automation and Robotics
in Manufacturing
Automation refers to hardware or software that is capable of doing tasks automaticallywithout human intervention, while robotics refers specifically to the development of
automated machines. Although replacing human labor with robots and automatedsystems can be a clear net positive in many instances (such as for physically dangerousjobs) these technologies threaten to displace many traditional occupations. The mostprominent example is the manufacturing sector, where robots equipped with cuttingedge technologies can do much of the assembly-line work currently conducted by humans.
Some companies have even built so-called “lights-out” factories, where lights and heating
are unnecessary because there are no humans on the factory floor. While industrial
robots have existed in some form for decades, the maturation of more advanced sensing
technologies, including computer vision, will accelerate this transformation.

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THE FUTURE OF WORK ACROSS ASEAN

Leading occupations in a number of ASEAN countries are at a high risk of replacement
or drastic realignment as a result of automation. For example, in Cambodia, where
garment production dominates the manufacturing sector and is an important sourceof rural employment, close to half a million sewing machine operators may lose theirjobs to automation. Similarly, Vietnam’s footwear and garments sector accounts fornearly 40% of rural manufacturing jobs. In Thailand and Indonesia, the automation risk
is particularly acute for approximately one million shop sales assistants and about 1.7
million office clerks, respectively.1 Food and beverage production contributes to 27-30% of
all rural manufacturing employment in these countries and these jobs are also at risk of
automation. Because rural workers have, on average, lower levels of education and more
limited reskilling and upskilling opportunities, automation and robotics pose a significant
risk to their livelihoods.
But the rise of factory automation does not mean that all of ASEAN’s 18 million or moremanufacturing workers will be left jobless, if and when their factories are automated.2
Even highly automated factories require human labor to design, monitor, service, and“train” the machines. For example, both Toyota and Tesla rely on thousands of human
workers to run their high-tech car factories.3 Though repetitive, unskilled, and purely
physical manufacturing tasks are most likely to be automated, new opportunities will
open up in these same sectors, requiring workers to have higher-order skills in problemsolving, data literacy, and communication.

ILO/Nguyễn ViệtThanh (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

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Artificial Intelligenceand Machine Learning
Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to the ability of software or hardware to exhibit humanlike intelligence. In modern systems, AI is usually combined with machine learning, whichallows computers to autonomously learn new processes by analyzing massive quantities
of data. Unlike other forms of automation, AI-powered systems are able to sense and react
dynamically to new conditions, invent new solutions on the fly, and perform complex
tasks, such as driving vehicles, recognizing speech and text, and generating new text andimages. AI has wide-ranging applications, from detecting fraud in banking systems4 to
sorting cucumbers on a family farm.5 Its introduction and widespread adoption is likely
to affect employment more than any previous technology due to its ability to substitutenot only tasks involving physical labor, but those requiring analysis, cognition, and verbal
communication as well.6
AI is predicted to significantly increase employee productivity, but it may also displacelarge numbers of workers in the manufacturing, transportation, and professional services
sectors. The increase in employee productivity will be most significant in ASEAN’s lowerand upper-middle income countries, including the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia,
with productivity growth estimated at between 46% and 52% according to one report.7
High-income countries will also see increases, such as in Singapore, where employee
productivity will increase at a lower but still significant rate of 38%. Even if the level of
employment across ASEAN countries remains the same, economies are likely to undergoa dramatic shift from agricultural and manufacturing jobs to higher-value service-sector
jobs.8The resulting impact on employment patterns is likely to be dramatic. One study foundthat 56% of manufacturing workers in Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, andCambodia are likely to be displaced by AI.9 Workers who adequately upskill to manage
the higher-order tasks AI enables may be able to remain in their sectors and even increase
their incomes. But the least-skilled are most likely to be displaced and potentially forced tocompete for a diminishing supply of low-paying work that cannot easily be replaced by AIor other forms of automation.

26

THE FUTURE OF WORK ACROSS ASEAN

Additive Manufacturing
Additive manufacturing (AM), also sometimes referred to as 3D printing, is a production
process in which a machine converts digital blueprints or scans into a physical object
by layering material into precise shapes. Provided with the appropriate design
data, AM allows a single machine to produce a near-infinite variety of unique andspecialized objects. For this reason, AM is especially valuable for rapid prototyping andcustomization, and it is now frequently integrated with conventional manufacturing
techniques to make factories more efficient and responsive to customers’ needs.10
Combined with a shift to a regional model of manufacturing, AM allows ASEAN
companies to manufacture the parts they need on-site or nearby. Given risingprotectionism and global trade conflicts, this is an effective strategy for companies toreduce production costs, tariffs, and time associated with importing parts from abroad.
AM is becoming critical to a broad range of industries, including aerospace, healthcare,
automotive, and tooling. In the Philippines, for instance, the Department of Scienceand Technology (DOST) has established two facilities to support the development of
AM, with the goal of increasing the productivity and quality of the country’s aerospace,defense, biomedical, healthcare, and automotive industries.11 However, because
AM requires expertise, a skills shortage is emerging in ASEAN countries. Investingin reskilling and educating the workforce will be critical to ensuring the growth ofindustries increasingly reliant on AM.12

Internet of Things
The Internet of Things (IoT) is composed of a “global network of computers, sensors,
and actuators connected through Internet protocols.”13 The term encompasses anything
connected to the internet, but is increasingly being used to define objects that “talk” ortransmit data or information to each other over the internet. Cars, kitchen appliances,and even heart monitors can all be connected through the IoT.
No sector has been more impacted by IoT technologies than manufacturing, which has
been using IoT solutions to track resources in factories, consolidate control rooms, and

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27

improve the efficiency and productivity of operations through “predictive maintenance.”
The benefits of IoT in manufacturing include increased safety, profitability, and efficiency
of factories by providing an additional layer of automated oversight. In addition, IoT
allows companies to gather real-time analytics on hundreds or thousands of physicalobjects and mechanical systems. In general, workers are expected to benefit from these
improvements, as are consumers. However, the paradigm shift that accompanies IoT
will also require ASEAN’s workers to shoulder new responsibilities and handle large
quantities of data, rather than solely relying upon their prior experience or intuition.
Workers in IoT-powered factories will need to acquire new skills, especially digital
literacy, critical problem-solving, and data literacy.14

Cloud Computing
Cloud computing technology became widespread in the early 2000s, when tech giants
like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft made their worldwide network of data centersavailable to other companies and individuals as a virtual service. Thanks to economies
of scale, these distributed networks are extremely efficient and reliable, and they enable
companies to set up and launch their own web services quickly and cheaply. Cloudcomputing has enabled the growth of innovation ecosystems around the world, as itallows entrepreneurs to rapidly build, test, and grow new apps and websites. These
technologies also make “analog” businesses more efficient by providing more efficientinternal IT infrastructure and international communications. Cloud computing has givenrise to entirely new “platform” business models that rely on continuous data transfer
between widely dispersed users.
Cloud computing services almost always necessitate the cross-border flow of data,sometimes bouncing through multiple jurisdictions before reaching a destination. Data
held “in the cloud” may also be stored on servers located in a different country from thecompany that actually owns the data, raising potential concerns in countries where data
localization is legally mandated. The 4IR technologies underpinning the new economy,such as IoT and certain AI services, rely on cheap and accessible cloud computing
resources, and restricting cross-border data flows can have far-reaching effects on
businesses and consumers. Policies that inhibit data flows due to national security or
privacy concerns thus run the risk of raising costs and dampening many of the benefitsof 4IR technologies and online platforms.

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THE FUTURE OF WORK ACROSS ASEAN

Predictive Analytics
Predictive analytics is, as defined by IBM, the use of “advanced analytic capabilities
spanning ad-hoc statistical analysis, predictive modeling, data mining, text analytics,
optimization, real-time scoring and machine learning.”15 All of these tools helporganizations discover patterns in data and predict events in the future, often withremarkable precision.
The financial sector and many internet companies have already adopted predictive
analytics for fraud detection, customer analysis, and evaluating credit risk. The
Commonwealth Bank of Australia, for example, uses analytics to predict the likelihoodof fraud activity for any given transaction before it is authorized – within 40 millisecondsof the transaction initiation. Other businesses use predictive analytics to predict andrespond to the human resource needs of their companies, and to proactively develop
a talent management pipeline. Leading companies are using predictive analytics tounderstand and forecast where talent will be plentiful and scarce, how talent will move
between roles, and even who will leave and when. As accurate and up-to-date data
becomes more prioritized and accessible, ASEAN governments may be able to harness
predictive analytics to better gauge trends in their own labor markets.

Lawrence Berkeley Nat’l Lab/Roy Kaltschmidt (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

POLICY PREREQUISITES FOR THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

29

30Asia Foundation/Leandro
THE FUTURE OF
WORK ACROSS ASEAN
The
JustenPART 3
UN Women/Staton Winter (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Macroeconomic andPolitical Trends Affecting
Work Across ASEAN
ASEAN’s labor markets are evolving rapidly in response to shifting trends in the region’s
economic and political landscape. These trends intersect with the accelerating adoption of
new technologies by businesses and individuals, creating a complex system of push andpull factors that affect the future of work in the region.
Within such a dynamic setting, predicting with accuracy the impact of 4IR technologies
on the demand for labor is challenging. Certain aggregate shifts in labor demand, such as
the growing concentration of global supply chains within ASEAN, will generate broadly
positive macroeconomic effects that are likely to increase the demand for workers in many
sectors. On the other hand, negative influences, such as the effects of climate change on
rural and coastal areas, may reduce the viability of traditional employment options, further
exposing the vulnerability of people’s livelihoods. This section reviews a set of broad
macroeconomic and political factors influencing policymakers’ ability to assess the impactof 4IR on jobs and skills demand in the region.

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TREND 1: The Digital Economy Promises New Jobs
Entrepreneurship in ASEAN’s digital economy is growing moreaccessible and globally significant, leading to new investment
and wealth creation in the region, as well as uncertainty about
where the benefits will accrue.
In the first quarter of 2019, while the rest of Asia saw a pullback in venture capitalfunding, ASEAN startups raised billions of dollars from investors in Silicon Valley andelsewhere.16 These companies, including at least ten “unicorns” with valuations of morethan US$1 billion, are transforming industries across the ASEAN region and beyond. New
technologies introduced by these companies have shifted many job functions, replaced
certain human roles, and generated a new set of jobs requiring complementary technicaland administrative skills. Some of these technologies have already dramatically changed
the way governments, companies, and individuals are communicating ideas, executing
policies, and doing business. Other technologies are poised to affect these processes in thenear future.
As evidenced by the many stories of successful founders from Southeast Asia (including
Grab, valued at $14 billion, and Gojek, valued at $10 billion), it is in many ways easier tostart a new enterprise in ASEAN than ever before. At a basic level, starting an internetcompany requires a digital device, an internet connection, and some degree of digital
literacy. A would-be entrepreneur in Bangkok, Penang, or Phnom Penh equipped withjust these prerequisites could theoretically access a massive quantity of online learningmaterials, platform infrastructure and free software frameworks, inexpensive thirdparty solutions for business management and marketing, and active communities
of like-minded founders and investors within their region’s innovation ecosystems.17
Some governments have taken active roles in promoting these ecosystems, such
as Indonesia’s “1000 Startups” program and the Malaysian Global Innovation andCreativity Centre (MaGIC).
New internet companies also create new jobs. The Southeast Asian internet economy
employs an estimated 100,000 skilled professionals and four million “partners”, or workers
on flexible schedules who provide food delivery, e-commerce logistics, or transportation
to customers. By 2025, those figures have the potential to grow to 200,000 skilled jobs
and 12 million partner jobs.18 However, the impacts of the widest-reaching “gig economy”

32

THE FUTURE OF WORK ACROSS ASEAN

companies are highly contested, with ongoing debates around the welfare of on-demand
workers, the sustainability of highly leveraged venture-funded enterprises, and the correct
regulatory approach to new companies that disrupt established industries. In the absenceof clear answers, policymakers, analysts, and industry leaders will need to work together
to establish an environment in which ASEAN’s burgeoning digital economy can continue togrow inclusively and sustainably.

TREND 2: Global Supply Chains are Shifting to ASEAN
Worldwide supply chains are moving to the ASEAN region,
leading to consistent economic development and opportunities
for immediate job growth.
Four decades of strong economic growth in ASEAN economies has generated a new middle
class and modern industries that can compete on the global stage. The opportunities
for job growth across ASEAN economies, especially the rapidly-developing “ASEAN 5”(Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam), are significant. The ASEAN
5 grew collectively at a rate of 5.2% in 2018, against global growth of 3.6% in the same
period. These five economies are predicted to maintain this growth in the coming years at
a rate of 5.1% in 2019 and 5.2% in 2020, while global growth is predicted to further decline
to just 3.3% in 2019.­19
The ASEAN region has emerged largely unscathed by the latest tensions andstresses that have caused global growth to slow. The escalation of U.S.-China tradetensions, tightening of credit in China, macroeconomic stress in Argentina andTurkey, disruptions to the auto sector in Germany, and financial tightening as partof the normalization of monetary policy in the larger advanced economies have notsignificantly affected the ASEAN region.20 Instead, ASEAN has benefited from thereconfiguration of worldwide supply chains. As production costs in China have risen
and uncertainties in US-China trade relations have increased, global manufacturing
is now relocating from China to ASEAN. The region has also continued to receive
high levels of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) as a result of its largely successful shift
from an agriculture-based economy to one increasingly supported by manufacturing
and services, a growing consumer market, a better educated workforce, improved
infrastructure, and an expanding logistics network. 21

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33

TREND 3: The Rise of the Global Service Economy
Cross-border services are becoming more important than thephysical trade of goods, forcing ASEAN value chains to become
more knowledge-intensive and reliant on high-skilled labor.
While ASEAN economies have benefited from current geopolitical trends diverting trade awayfrom China, the region is still subject to global reductions in the cross-border trade of goods.
The global trade slowdown experienced over the past eight years is likely to become the “newnormal,” as reshoring in developed economies takes place, protectionist measures rise, andthe global demand for goods decreases.22 Though more goods continue to be manufactured,
fewer of those goods are being traded across borders, as companies are increasingly
establishing their production sites close to their intended consumers. The production ofcertain goods (particularly automobiles, computers, and electronics) is also becoming moreregionally concentrated in Asia and Europe. Even with the immediate gains due to geopoliticaleffects, ASEAN economies may be unable to sustain their growth in the long term by solely
relying on the inexpensive, low-skilled labor force that has driven their development so far.
At the same time, cross-border services are growing, with some assessments indicatingthat services now make up half of all cross-border trade.23 Increases in productivity
brought about by new and more efficient technologies and higher consumer savings
driven by lower prices for goods could stimulate demand for these services. Indeed, job
losses in developing Asia due to technological advancements have so far been more thancompensated for by rising domestic demand among a growing middle class.24 ASEAN
economies have much to gain from the shift in demand for services if they are able tocontinue their evolution toward knowledge-intensive service industries, especially thosedelivered through global digital platforms.

TREND 4: Citizens are Better Educated and Tech-Savvy
ASEAN’s many educated, internet-literate workers are adapting
to new roles in knowledge management and digital services.
Though disparities exist between and within economies, ASEAN citizens as a whole are
better educated and more familiar with digital technologies than ever before. Higher
education institutions in ASEAN are engaging their counterparts across the region as
well as globally and aligning their national education strategies with those of others. For
instance, Thailand has begun to recognize transnational educational qualifications, and34

THE FUTURE OF WORK ACROSS ASEAN

Vietnam has increased its collaboration with regional accreditation recognition and quality
assurance agencies.25 Furthermore, greater access to technology and online resources ismaking lifelong learning practices more accessible, equitable, and inclusive.26
ASEAN customers and employees are adopting new technologies at a pace that isaccelerating.27 The vast majority of internet users connect through their smartphones, andSoutheast Asians spend upwards of four hours per day on the mobile internet – the highest
in the world.28 ASEAN internet users access an array of services, many created by homegrowninternet startups, to buy and sell goods, access transportation, book travel, apply for jobs, use
financial services and payments, and enroll in online courses. Such familiarity and comfort
with digital platforms stands to serve them well in the coming decades.

TREND 5: ASEAN Faces Rising Levels of Income Inequality
The gains of industrial growth are often distributed unequally,
and growth driven by technological innovation may further
entrench “digital divides.”As in the rest of the world, growth across ASEAN has not always occurred at the same rate
throughout the population. All countries in the region, except the Philippines and Cambodia,
are experiencing rising levels of inequality (as measured by the Gini Coefficient). A striking
example is Thailand, a country that has experienced tremendous growth, but whose richest 1%
now own, according to Credit Suisse, fully two-thirds of the total wealth.29 This is a considerably
higher proportion than any other country included in Credit Suisse’s annual survey.
It is unclear whether the overall productivity gains and democratization of service
provision promised by 4IR technologies will smooth out these income and wealthinequalities, or whether these technologies will further concentrate wealth and income
growth in privileged sectors to the detriment of others.30 However, there is no doubtthat numerous “digital divides” continue to inhibit many citizens from participating in
the digital economy to the fullest extent, reducing the earning potential of those on
the wrong side of the divide. Across the region, the best-connected and most digitallyliterate individuals tend to be men in urban areas, while women, the elderly, persons withdisabilities, and rural communities remain at the fringes of the digital economy, unable
to build digital skills, and largely excluded from ICT policy-making processes.31 This digital
divide, if left unaddressed, threatens to further entrench inequalities within ASEAN
societies and slow the region’s growth potential.
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35

TREND 6: Women Often Bear the Brunt of Economic Disruption
Gender-sensitive policies are needed to unlock the latentcapacity of the millions of women who will join the workforce inthe coming decades.
As the Fourth Industrial Revolution takes shape in ASEAN, women will face new challenges
that often intersect with traditional ones. For example, women have traditionally been
employed in factory work that consists of repetitive, easily routinized tasks that arelikely to be automated in the coming years. Administrative and clerical service workers –pursuits which have also been traditionally held by women in ASEAN – are similarly likely
to see a degree of automation that contributes to job loss. Given these trends, ASEAN willneed to address the unique challenges faced by women and devise strategies that can help
them manage 4IR disruptions.
Digital technologies in particular offer women new paths to prosperity in light of 4IR. For
women entrepreneurs, new technologies offer both the flexibility needed to manage workand family responsibilities, and also the possibility to expand their customer base beyond
their own cities. A McKinsey survey in Indonesia found that women-owned micro, small,and medium-size enterprises (MSMEs) generate 35% of e-commerce revenue, comparedwith only 15% of offline MSME revenue, and women entrepreneurs contribute more than
9% of the country’s GDP.36 This e-commerce business model reveals the untapped potentialof women in the future of work.
However, the gender digital divide threatens to keep these possibilities beyond many
women’s reach. There are a number of aspects to the divide. First, women lag behind
men in access to digital technology and the internet. According to the GSMA, low literacy
and digital skills were the top barriers preventing female mobile owners in Asia fromusing the internet.37 Women are also at a disadvantage in accessing resources that would
help them learn how to use digital technologies, and are generally underrepresented
in the STEM disciplines. For example, an ILO report found that in Thailand, 1 in 4 men
studied STEM degrees, compared to only 1 in 7 women.38 The lack of women in STEM cuts
off the pipeline of potential female workers with the skills needed to design and create
digital technologies, as well as women in leadership and decision-making roles in thedigital sector.
Until policymakers address these aspects of the digital divide, the economic potential ofwomen will remain underutilized. Finally, given that women often shoulder the bulk of

36

THE FUTURE OF WORK ACROSS ASEAN

household labor in addition to work outside the home, they have less time than men toundertake upskilling activities.

TREND 7: Climate Change & Migration Offer New Challenges
Large-scale impacts of climate change and migration will force
economies to make adjustments to protect the most vulnerable
segments of the workforce.
Southeast Asia’s primarily agriculture-based economies are extremely vulnerable toclimate change. Between 1990 and 2010, emissions of carbon dioxide increased faster inSoutheast Asia than anywhere else in the world, and the region has experienced risingtemperatures each decade since 1960. Climate change is expected to have particularly
serious effects on agriculture, fishing, tourism, and health and result in significant loss of
traditional jobs. Rice yields in Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam alone are
expected to drop by as much as 50% by 2100 from their 1990 levels as a result of climatechange.39 The impact of climate change on the region is likely to be most acute in Vietnam,
due to its high dependence on agriculture, low level of rural development and longcoastline, along with recent trends towards lower crop diversity, and the erosion of social
safety nets.40
However, renewable energy and afforestation present new opportunities to offset losses
in traditional job sectors. For example, following the imposition of antidumping duties
on Chinese manufacturers, Malaysia and Thailand are fast becoming global players in the
manufacture of solar panels. Renewable energy technologies are on the rise, including
wind power, photovoltaics, solar towers, wave energy, tidal generators, hydrogen fuelcells, biodiesel, waste-to-energy plants, lithium ion batteries, vertical farming, artificial
photosynthesis, LED lighting, and recyclable electronics. These new technologies aresupporting the emergence of green industries in the region, and upskilling in this area will
be important to job growth in the coming years.
ASEAN economies are also deeply impacted by migration, including rural-to-urban
migration, intra-regional migration within ASEAN, outward migration from ASEAN toother parts of the world, and inward migration of workers from less developed countries
in South Asia. Thus far, migration has been a net benefit to ASEAN by providing steadyremittance income from overseas workers and by filling gaps in each country’s labormarket.41 However, the vast majority of migrant workers are low-skilled or unskilled

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37

laborers whose personal and financial security is often placed at risk. Additionally, theoccupations that typically employ migrants, such as manufacturing, food service, andclerk positions, are at high risk of substitution by automation.42 Domestic and foreign
migrants will undoubtedly continue to play a key role in the ASEAN labor market for
the foreseeable future, but policymakers will need to contend with how the broader
economic and political trends impacting the region will affect the migrant workers uponwhom their countries depend.

The Asia Foundation

38

THE FUTURE OF WORK ACROSS ASEAN

PART 4
World Bank/Gerhard Jörén (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

How ASEAN Countries are
Preparing their Workforces
for the Impact of 4IR
The actions ASEAN governments and businesses are taking to prepare their workforces
for the impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution vary widely. Singapore, for example, isalready a global leader in technology entrepreneurship and the adoption of technology
in government. In less economically developed countries like Cambodia, policymakers areworking to put into place the basic IT infrastructure required to digitize critical governmentand business functions. Less developed countries must also grapple with funding andimplementing upskilling programs needed to train their workforce to effectively utilize newtechnologies. This section takes an in-depth look at what seven ASEAN nations are doing
to prepare their workforces for the future of work and identifies in each country examplesof good practices being implemented by government and private sector stakeholders. Eachchapter highlights major challenges still to be addressed and offers a path forward along
three axes of policy interventions: policy partnerships to improve labor market dashboards,
enhanced upskilling capacity to respond to market demands, and structural reforms that
promote more innovative economies.
POLICY PREREQUISITES FOR THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

39

CASE 1:

CAMBODIATHE FUTURE OF WORK IN CAMBODIA• Driven by manufacturing and tourism, Cambodia’s economy has grown at an
average annual rate of 7.7% since 1995.
• Cambodia’s workforce is characterized by low education, low-to-medium skill
levels, low technical literacy, and an average age of 34.6 years old.
• More than half of Cambodian workers (over 4 million jobs) are at a high riskof automation, in particular those in the textiles, clothing, and footwear (TCF)
manufacturing sector.
• Cambodia’s policymakers face the major challenge of shifting their existinglabor policy frameworks beyond the initial planning phase to implementation,
while simultaneously addressing the data-impoverished environment in whichplanning has taken place thus far.
• Both the public and private sectors are lagging in preparing the workforce for thedigital revolution sweeping the region. Cambodia’s education and TVET systems
are still low performers compared with those of other countries in the region. But
the National TVET Policy offers a timely framework within which to find solutions
to enhance the country’s upskilling capacity.
• Cambodia’s digital economy is still in the early stages. Little quantitative
information is available on its actual size and scope. Policymakers must closely
monitor this sector and create an enabling regulatory environment for the digital
economy to grow.

40

THE FUTURE OF WORK ACROSS ASEAN

The Asia Foundation/Karl Grobl

Driven by garment exports and tourism, Cambodia’s economy has sustained an averageannual growth rate of 7.7% between 1995 and 2018, making it among the fastest-growing
economies in the world. As global demand peaked in 2018, economic growth is estimatedat 7.5%, compared to 7% in 2017, and is expected to remain robust over the medium term.43
Poverty continues to fall in Cambodia. According to World Bank estimates, the percentageof the population living below the poverty line dropped from close to 48% in 2007 to just
13.5% in 2014. Yet while Cambodia has achieved the Millennium Development Goal (MDG)
of halving poverty, the vast majority of families who escaped poverty did so only by a small
margin. Around 4.5 million people remain near-poor, and 90% of them live in rural areasand have limited ability to absorb even small economic shocks.
The workforce is characterized by low education and low-to-medium skill levels, with anaverage workforce age of 34.6 years old.44 Generally, jobs are evenly distributed between
men and women across all economic sectors in Cambodia. Of the country’s 3.3 million
wage employees, 1.8 million (54%) are concentrated in just three sectors: agriculture;
textiles, clothing, and footwear (TCF); and manufacturing and construction, all ofwhich are highly susceptible to technological substitution. Occupations at high risk of
automation include sewing machine operators, stall and market salespersons, bank tellers,
accountants, street food vendors, crop farm laborers, and construction and retail workers.
While product customization technology, such as additive manufacturing, body scanners
and computer-aided design, is driving the TCF sector globally, robotic automation andautomated sewing machines are likely to have the greatest impact on TCF enterprises andworkers in Cambodia. As a traditional sourcing market for international buyers, the TCF

POLICY PREREQUISITES FOR THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

41

sector is highly integrated with and dependent upon the global market. Consequently,
as US tariffs on Chinese textile and clothing manufacturing make these items more
expensive, a significant number of manufacturing firms are shifting to Cambodia. Despite
the benefits Cambodia could receive from this shift in global supply chains, around 88% of
its workers in the TCF sector, the majority of whom are female, are at risk of automation.
Women, those educated at only a secondary school level, and those in rural communities
are especially vulnerable. Overall, Cambodian women are 50% more likely than men
to be employed in an occupation at high risk of automation. Primary school graduatesare 20% more likely to be in a high-risk occupation than post-secondary graduates. For
the 14% of Cambodians who obtain a bachelor’s degree or higher, there is a significant
disparity between men and women choosing to pursue science, technology, engineeringand mathematics (STEM) degrees, with 27.8% of male students pursuing STEM degrees
compared with just 14.6% of female students.45 This disparity places Cambodian women ata disadvantage in an increasingly technologically advanced job market.
In general, Cambodian workers lack many of the skills needed to work effectively in adigital economy. This includes managing online information, i.e. the ability to searchfor, identify, evaluate and communicate online data; collaborating online, i.e. the ability
to use tools such as cloud storage, productivity applications, calendars, web meetings,
and learning environments; and analyzing data, i.e. the ability to extrapolate trends
and patterns in data using spreadsheets and other tools.46 The lack of skilled workers
also constrains the ability of domestic enterprises to adopt the technologies required todevelop and to remain regionally competitive. This skills shortage is exacerbated by alack of foreign language skills. And since most internationally developed online training
materials are not available in Khmer, it is that much more difficult for employees to selfdirect their own learning in this area.
Cambodia urgently needs to prepare its workforce for the labor market disruptions that
4IR promises to bring. As technologies become more cost-effective, Cambodia will lose
the comparative advantage it possesses through its low wage workers, and ultimately
Cambodian exports will lose their competitiveness. This will lead to the relocationof TCF production elsewhere and the loss of employment of a significant share of its
workers, or both. The country’s heavy reliance on the TCF sector makes prioritizing
economic diversification and economic growth in other sectors a prudent strategy.
Cambodia is significantly behind its ASEAN neighbors in making this transition, but
this also means it can look to existing models of success to implement sensible andinformed policy reforms.

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POLICY PARTNERSHIPS TO IMPROVELABOR MARKET DASHBOARDSThe Government of Cambodia has stated its goal of becoming a digital economy by 2023 andannounced a coordinated and ambitious overarching strategy to respond to the challengesof 4IR, strengthen the nation’s education, and diversify its economy. The Rectangular
Strategy for Growth, Employment, Equity and Efficiency (2018) policy includes a seriesof ancillary policies, such as the National Policy Framework on Technical and Vocational
Training 2017-2025, the Cambodian Qualification Framework, National Competency
Standards and Competency-based Curriculum. These policy frameworks address a numberof the nation’s education and training issues, such as technical and vocational training
accreditation, the establishment of the model centers for technical training, and enacting anational day of technical and vocational training. However, at of late 2019 they remain in thenascent development and planning stages and are not yet widely publicized to the broader
population, nor are they supported by a realistic timeframe for implementation.
Moreover, while existing policies commit to making evidence-based plans for a digitaltransformation, they do not clearly articulate the means by which such evidence will
be collected. The Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training, for instance, is tasked withresponding to the needs of the current job market, rather than improving data analytics
to anticipate and prepare for upcoming shifts in the market. The National Institute of
Statistics is charged with leading and coordinating the gathering of the nation’s statistics,
but it is a decentralized organization, and it is not clear what agency is ultimately
responsible for overseeing the collection and assessment of 4IR-related trends in labormarket data.
The government’s commitment to developing a data-driven tracking tool – which would
allow them to monitor current labor market demand and predict future shifts – iscurrently hampered by limited funds and human resources. Without such a systematic
tracking tool in place to capture data on jobs and skills trends, policymakers’ ability to
track changing market demands and workforce trends is severely constrained. Instead,individual ministries are dependent upon their own market assessments developed
through a limited set of individual consultations with specific private sector corporations.
The National Institute of Posts Telecommunications and Information Communication
Technology (NIPTICT), for instance, devotes significant resources to conducting annual
consultations with a select group of large companies to assess their workforce demands
and update their institutional training curriculum.

POLICY PREREQUISITES FOR THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION43

To some extent, other non-governmental stakeholders are filling in the gaps inunderstanding. For example, the German think tank KAS surveyed 61 companies in
Cambodia to gain insight into the private sector’s and Cambodian workforce’s readinessfor a digital economy. It found that while 83% of companies surveyed acknowledged that
digital technologies will significantly transform their industry in the next ten years, only
22% of them were prioritizing preparation for this transformation.47 This is the kind ofinvestigation that policymakers must coordinate if they are to plan effectively for andtailor policies to the future.

The Path Forward
Cambodia’s policymakers face the major challenge of shifting their existing policy
frameworks and coordination mechanisms beyond the initial planning and assessment
stages into implementing specific actions to prepare a future-ready workforce. To
ameliorate the data-impoverished environment in which planning is presently being
conducted, policymakers must begin the hard work of cross-ministerial harmonizationof 4IR agendas. For example, the private sector consultations conducted by the NIPTICT
and by other ministries contain troves of data that likely can be turned into useful,actionable information, if done in coordination with the National Institute of Statistics’
data collection efforts.
Government must also look for partnerships in the private sector and elsewhere to gather
relevant, up-to-date labor market data with which to inform their policymaking. Critical totheir data-gathering efforts will be data on skills and certifications sought by employers, aswell as skills gaps and training requirements that will be useful to emerging industries andalso to existing industries seeking to remain regionally competitive. There are a numberof local jobs posting websites, such as pelprek.com and bongthom.com, that also serve
as recruitment agencies. These would be good starting points for the task of developing
measures to track changing market demands and workforce trends. In addition, companies
often use social media sites like Facebook to list job openings. Thus, it may be worth
exploring ways to mine relevant information posted on social media sites.

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THE FUTURE OF WORK ACROSS ASEAN

ENHANCED CAPACITY TO DELIVER SKILLSTRAINING THAT FITS THE MARKET
Cambodia’s workforce is currently ill-prepared to absorb the impact that 4IR technologies
will have on its labor market. For workers, even having skills in technologies alreadycommonly in use today, such as code writing or website designing, is rare, as evidenced
by a survey of employees performed by KAS.48 There are a number of factors impacting
the preparedness of Cambodia’s workforce for 4IR. First, the quality of Cambodia’s
education system (including vocational education) is still low compared to that of manyof its neighboring countries, and does not meet market demands nor regional standards.
Challenges also remain in raising educational attainment rates in secondary and postsecondary education. For workers who would like to improve their skills, it is often
incumbent upon themselves to find the resources to do so, but much of the existing
resources are in English and therefore inaccessible to them. For employers, many are
disincentivized to provide their staff with training, out of fear that they will leave thecompany after receiving training.
The World Economic Forum’s 2017 Global Human Capital Report rates Cambodia thepoorest among ASEAN member states for educating and training its citizens to develop
a competitive workforce. However, Cambodia’s government is implementing a host of
initiatives to improve its education system. For example, it is increasing the pre-service
teacher training requirement for primary and secondary teachers from two years to four
years, aiming to increase their educational attainment level to a bachelor’s degree.49
This would put Cambodia’s educational standards on par with Thailand’s, where all K-12
teachers must hold at least a bachelor’s degree. In addition, the Ministry of Education,
Youth, and Sport (MoEYS) continues to refine its strategy on ICT in education, for example,
by incorporating ICT into the curriculum from grade 4 through grade 12 since 2015. MoEYS
also developed a STEM Policy in 2016, which aims to strengthen the capacity of students
in schools and universities in STEM to respond to job market needs and ASEAN integration;
formed STEM universities and STEM clubs; and provided capacity-building for teachers andresearchers in STEM fields.
Cambodia’s TVET system is also saddled with a number of challenges that render it
inadequately responsive to labor market demands. An ADB assessment cited a varietyof reasons, from outdated training methods and equipment, to trainers’ lack of directindustry experience, as well as limited financial resources for the TVET system.50
Moreover, attitudes towards TVET are negative, as many view it as a second option, or

POLICY PREREQUISITES FOR THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

45

as education meant for the poor, marginalized groups, or school dropouts. Finally, TVET
qualifications are not standardized or accepted across other education streams or theprivate sector within the country, much less regionally across ASEAN. Cambodia’s latest
National TVET Policy (2017–2025) is intended to address these constraints, with its stated
aim of supporting “lifelong education and employability” for the workforce. The government
knows that it cannot achieve this goal alone and thus includes among its policy objectives
the enhancement and promotion of closer collaborations between educational and TVET
institutions and the private sector.

be ready and improve the skills [of workers] so that they are
flexible to the demands of industry. Cambodia’s workforce isstill young, and we have time if we start now to adjust theeducation and vocational system to get the desired outcome.

““We cannot avoid the evolution of technology, so we have to

Mey Kalyan, senior advisor to the Supreme National Economic Council51

Various Ministries have begun exploratory digital training strategies. For instance, the
NIPTICT is working with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to establish
an “IT passport” curriculum and certificate system for Ministry personnel. To date, theIT passport has provided training to 3,000 people and now online modules are being
developed with the goal of introducing the program as a qualification to work within
the Ministry. Initiatives such as these are still in the formative stages and largely ad hoc.
However, they demonstrate a government commitment to redressing the country’s overall
low digital literacy, beginning with its own employees.
Some companies are also demonstrating an inititative to train their employees.
For example, Smart Axiata Company Ltd. (SMART), Cambodia’s leading mobile
telecommunications corporation, is at the forefront of advancing good practices
by supporting the development of the country’s digital ecosystem. Through its
technopreneurship and innovation programs and digital startup initiatives, SMART is
working to improve the country’s digital and ICT literacy, promote continuous education,and build the next generation of leaders in the digital era.
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THE FUTURE OF WORK ACROSS ASEAN

Other stakeholders are also rising to the challenge of upskilling Cambodia’s workforce.
Non-profit organization Passerelles Numeriques Cambodia (PN) provides educationand technical and professional training in the digital sector to small groups of young,
underprivileged people. The curriculum is updated every two years based on demandassessments from local partner companies and an analysis of the global movement ofmarket-leading companies like Microsoft. Since 2005, 1,437 students have graduated fromits Data Management Operator training programs. Of the 965 students who graduatedfrom its two-year program, 90% of them found employment within two months after
graduating and 100% within three months, earning an average monthly salary of USD$256, about twice as high as the national minimum salary. Professional training programs
like these can be models for how Cambodia’s TVET system designs new curricula to bringthe country’s workforce into the digital future.

The Path Forward
The government has announced its aspiration to attain upper middle-income status
by 2030. But to do so, the country will need to develop the skills of the Cambodian
workforce to effectively utilize new technologies and respond to changing market
demands. Currently, both the country’s government and private sector are lagging in
preparing its workforce for the digital revolution sweeping the region. The National TVET
Policy offers a timely framework to find solutions to enhancing the country’s upskilling
capacity.
Public-private partnerships will be an important avenue through which enhancements
to the existing TVET system are made. For example, one solution to outdated training
materials and curricula could be found in partnerships between TVET providers, local
businesses engaged in translation work, and online training platforms such as Coursera,
edX, Udemy, Udacity, or Khan Academy. To improve the accessibility and awareness of
training and reskilling resources, policymakers should consider coordinating with the
TVET system, social media sites, and private sector to implement outreach and marketing
campaigns. Policymakers should also explore ways to reproduce successful models
of in-house employee training programs, such as those already being implemented
by companies like Smart Axiata, or by adapting and extending curricula like thegovernment’s own “IT Passport.”

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47

STRUCTURAL REFORMS THAT PROMOTEMORE INNOVATIVE ECONOMIES
Cambodia’s impressive economic growth over the past two decades has relied to a large
extent on the export of low-value goods such as garments, which has been possible due to thesector’s low wages. However, as wages rise and automation becomes an increasingly attractive
and cost-effective option, Cambodian industries will eventually be faced with pressure toeliminate jobs. Smaller and locally owned TCF enterprises in Cambodia tend not to engage intechnology upgrades to the same extent as those connected to global value chains, which islikely to render them uncompetitive over time. Larger firms may be faced with the challenge offinding adequately trained staff to fill positions with higher skills requirements. Whatever the
scenario, Cambodia will need to pursue new drivers of economic growth, a labor market readyto absorb workers, and a workforce equipped with the skills demanded by that market.
Cambodia is at a critical juncture in its development. The government is looking to
the promotion of the digital economy as a key step in the country’s strategy to boost
productivity and transform the economy. Accelerating development of the digital economy
requires innovation and development in the telecoms and ICT sectors and a conducive
business environment for start-ups, small- and medium-sized enterprises, and investors.
Policymakers have articulated multiple objectives for their strategy, including creating
a robust digital environment that allows both small and large firms to connect to theglobal digital economy value chain, creating new business activities in digital payments,
online entertainment and e-commerce, and increasing the number of users who adapt
themselves to such technologies. The National Assembly’s approval of the E-Commerce
Law in October 2019 was an important step forward in this respect.

of the digital economy in both hard and soft infrastructure,developing human resources and skills in line with the new““[We] will focus on strengthening and expanding the foundation

context, as well as developing an appropriate legal andregulatory framework.

Aun Pornmoniroth, Minister of Economy and Finance52

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THE FUTURE OF WORK ACROSS ASEAN

Presently, Cambodia’s digital economy is still in its nascency, and little quantitative
information is available on its actual size and scope. Access to mobile technology
is high, but mobile broadband and fixed broadband subscriptions remain low andbelow that of ASEAN and global averages.53 E-commerce platforms like Alibaba andlocally based services like ride-hailing app PassAPP are increasingly popular, and digital
payments platforms are emerging. But overall, digital adoption remains low, especiallyfor businesses and government. In addition to much-needed digital infrastructure,
the World Bank notes there is a broad need to develop complementary regulations,skills, and institutions.54 In particular, the lack of a well-developed legal and regulatory
framework for e-transactions, data protection and privacy, cybersecurity, consumer
protection for online purchases, and cybercrime prevention are major limiting factors in
the growth of the digital economy.

The Path Forward
In addition to making the necessary investments in infrastructure and investing in training
resources as described above, policymakers must focus on creating an enabling regulatoryenvironment for the digital economy to grow. Businesses and individuals will be reluctant touse digital technologies, such as mobile banking and payments, or develop business models
that rely upon them until they feel confident in the government’s willingness and ability
to protect their privacy and data. Start-ups will also need to trust that their intellectual
property is being protected by a robust IPR regime. Already policymakers are turning to theprivate sector to seek their cooperation in the development of coherent ICT regulations.
For example, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications and local conglomerate RoyalGroup recently signed a public-private partnerships to establish ICT regulations and invest indigital infrastructure. As the regulatory environment is still incomplete, policymakers should
provide “regulatory sandboxes” to give the private sector freedom to innovate.
The government has a key role to play in encouraging the digital scene and promoting
successful models of businesses using digital technology and reducing barriers to theirentry. Some ministries are doing just that. For example, the Ministry of Industry andHandicrafts has introduced a “SMEs go digital” policy which seeks to link tech start-ups to
SMEs. The Ministry of Economy and Finance is supporting new tech start-up companies
by providing tax exemptions and low interest loans. Other agencies must follow suit tonurture a diverse and thriving digital and service economy.

POLICY PREREQUISITES FOR THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

49

CASE 2:

INDONESIATHE FUTURE OF WORK IN INDONESIA• Indonesia’s labor force is relatively young, and the country can expect to enjoy a“demographic bonus” in the coming decade.
• Manufacturing accounts for about 18% of GDP, 15% of the labor force, and is themain focus of the government’s 4IR roadmap.
• Coordination between ministries and with the private sector to develop
labor market benchmarks will be valuable for the effective evaluation andimplementation of future plans.
• Indonesia’s vast TVET system is undergoing a nationwide “revitalization”,
but presently many students still graduate without skills that make them
employable.
• The flexibility of digital technology has helped unleash the potential of women
entrepreneurs, who lead 35% of Indonesia’s SMEs and contribute more than 9%of GDP.
• The nation’s internet economy is strong, growing, and expected to reach USD
100 billion by 2025. Its tech start-up scene is fueling a dynamic and growing
digital economy.
• Policymakers can continue to encourage the development of the digital economy
and support 4IR-readiness by making improvements to IPR and tax regimes.

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THE FUTURE OF WORK ACROSS ASEAN

The Asia Foundation/Conor AshleighIndonesia’s economy has remained robust and globally connected, even amid tradetensions affecting other parts of the region. Supportive government policies haveenhanced the country’s macroeconomic stability, and an extensive effort to expand
infrastructure and invest in human capital has led to a good outlook for future growth.
Among those efforts are reform initiatives with stakeholders in the industrial sector,
especially in increasing productivity through technology.
The “Making Indonesia 4.0” Road Map is the government’s strategy to prepare the country
for the Fourth Industrial Revolution by upgrading its manufacturing sector to become
a global “top 10 economy” by 2030. Manufacturing is also a core focus of the country’s
medium-term Technocratic National Mid-Term Development Plan (Rencana Pembangunan
Jangka Menengah Nasional, or RPJMN) 2020-2024, and preparing for “Industry 4.0” hasbeen previously emphasized in three of nine points under the national strategic programfor 2014-2019 (Nawa Cita), developed under President Joko Widodo’s leadership.55 56
Manufacturing accounts for about 18% of Indonesia’s GDP and employs 14.7% of its
workforce.57 “Making Indonesia 4.0” has five priority sectors: food and beverages, textiles
and textile products, chemicals, electronics, and the automotive industry. These fivesectors account for 60% of Indonesia’s manufacturing GDP and exports. The initiative waslaunched in 2018 with the involvement of government institutions, industry associations,entrepreneurs, and technology providers. Through the adoption of new and emerging
technologies, such as IoT, AI, human-machine interfaces, robotic technology, and 3D
printing, policymakers hope that this road map will create new jobs for 7-19 million people
and encourage more exports in both manufacturing and non-manufacturing sectors.

POLICY PREREQUISITES FOR THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION51

In addition to upgrading a low-skilled manufacturing sector, the government is addressing
the sector’s need to move upstream as well as diversify its participation in global value
chains. Presently, the country’s manufacturing sector is more biased toward primarysectors: supplying raw or intermediate materials upstream, rather than producing higher
value products downstream. President Joko Widodo said of the country’s need to move up
the value chain, “With innovations, quality human resources, and mastery of technology,
we can be released from the curse of natural resources.” 58
Indonesia’s internet economy is strong and growing. In 2018, its gross merchandise
value (GMV) market size reached USD 27 billion, compared to USD 8 billion in 2015, andis expected to reach USD 100 billion in 2025 through further expansion of e-commerce,
online media (including online advertising, gaming, video, and music on demand),ride-hailing, and online travel.59 Digital technology has gone hand in hand withIndonesia’s thriving MSME sector and creative economy, and the government has taken amultipronged approach to nurturing these sectors, from supporting business incubators to
growing the country’s reservoir of knowledge, talent and skills.
Indonesia’s creative economy contributes more than 7% of the economy’s total GDP,
represented more than 8 million businesses in 2016, and employs more than 17 million
people. In 2015, President Jokowi established Bekraf, the Indonesian Creative Economy
Agency, a non-ministerial agency dedicated to assisting the President to set, coordinate,
and synchronize policy on the creative economy. The following year, President Jokowi
signed the e-commerce road map of 2017-2019 to synchronize each governmentorganization’s role on a number of fronts, including funding, taxes, consumer rights,
vocational education, human resources, communications infrastructure, logistics, andcyber security. Although the October 2019 cabinet merged Bekraf into the Ministryof Tourism and Creative Economy, making its future role as a stand-alone agency lessclear, the simultaneous appointment of Gojek founder Nadiem Makarim as Minister of
Education and Culture brings serious digital economy bona fides to the government.60
However, this support from the government may not be sufficient in order to develop afuture-ready Indonesian workforce. More work is needed to promote lifelong learning
beyond the school system and advance vocational education that develops skills
demanded by the private sector. Arguably the most challenging matter of concern is thelack of a proper coordination mechanism between government agencies, the private
sector, civil society, and academia – especially in regards to the country’s MSME sector. The
MSME sector is Indonesia’s largest employer, and its vastness and diversity makes it all
the more difficult for policymakers to implement a one-size-fits-all strategy to prepare its
workers for the future and assist enterprises in adopting new technologies.
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THE FUTURE OF WORK ACROSS ASEAN

“

The world is not merely changing, but it is being disrupted… Someold business patterns have suddenly become obsolete. Moreover,new business patterns also emerge. Established skills havesuddenly become irrelevant, and new skills have become the needof the hour…We face competition with creativity, innovation, andspeed. Hence, there is no other choice left but for us to change…

“

Old ways that are not competitive cannot be continued. New
strategies must be created. New ways must be adopted.
President Joko Widodo at the Annual Session of the People’s
Consultative Assembly of the Republic Indonesia 201961

The Asia Foundation/Andrew Thornley

POLICY PREREQUISITES FOR THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

53

POLICY PARTNERSHIPS TO IMPROVELABOR MARKET DASHBOARDS
In its RPJMN for 2020-2024, the Indonesian government outlines plans to develop citizens’
skills by creating vocational partnerships between government organizations, educational
institutions, industry groups, and regional governments; encourage educational
governance; expand activities within the creative economy; strengthen the creative
economy and digital economy in growth areas in culinary arts, fashion, games, music, film,
craft, mobile applications and digital content; and encourage higher-quality education by
providing better infrastructure and support for soft-skills development.62“

The National Industrial Committee is prepared for thedigital era. Coordination is needed both for harmonizationof regulations, fiscal incentives, and telecommunications
infrastructure. […] In preparing the [Making Indonesia 4.0]“

road-map we do not rely on a single Ministry, but on a synergyof various Ministries.

Airlangga Hartarto, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs63

Indonesia’s policymakers acknowledge that government collaboration with the private
sector, nonprofits, and other actors is critical to realizing the country’s ambitious plans
to develop its economy and prepare for 4IR. A new law, the National System of Scienceand Technology Law (UU Sisnas Iptek), will address the lack of coordination between
institutions that is hampering progress in research and innovation in Indonesia. One
example of cross-institutional coordination already taking place is PulseLab Jakarta, a pilot
initiative between the UN and the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas). Its
aim is to bring together the Indonesian government, non-governmental organisations, andthe private sector to research and facilitate the adoption of new approaches for applying
novel digital data sources and real-time analysis techniques to social development.

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THE FUTURE OF WORK ACROSS ASEAN

“The government needs to initiate dialogue with the private
sector to jointly identify and address obstacles to thedevelopment of a modern manufacturing sector. It is critical forpolicymakers and the private sector to collaborate in discovering“

those new and more sophisticated products that Indonesia could
successfully diversify into.

Jesus Felipe, ADB advisor on economic research and regional cooperation64

Another example is the Indonesia Startup Database and Mapping initiative, a collaboration
begun in 2018 between Bekraf, the Indonesia Digital Creative Industry Society (MIKTI),
and Telkom Indonesia. The objective of the initiative is to collect data on the number
and distribution of tech startups throughout Indonesia and create a reference point bywhich to gauge the growth and needs of the country’s startup ecosystem. Its goal is todetermine how many and where incubators and accelerators need to be built as well as
the availability and quality of talent in a particular city. Additionally, it aims to form a
network of mentors who can assist startups. Ultimately, this data is being gathered to
inform policymaking on tech startup investment and workforce needs.

The Path Forward
The “Making Indonesia 4.0” Road Map and other initiatives are ambitious plans to usher
Indonesia into a new era of industrialization, but many challenges lie ahead. For example,
each ministry is implementing “Making Indonesia 4.0” initiatives, but presently, theharmonization of particular assignments across ministries is not monitored and evaluatedregularly. Policymakers can improve their coordination and collaboration on enacting
initiatives in industrialization, ICT, education, and the creative economy through more crossministerial working groups. Industry experts and academics should also be brought into
policy co-creation workshops to inform dialogue, develop benchmarks, and monitor progress.
These workshops can also be used to establish and expand novel data sharing initiatives, suchas the Startup Database and Mapping initiative, to address gaps in information that preventthe effective evaluation of programs and the assessment of future labor market needs.
POLICY PREREQUISITES FOR THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

55

ENHANCED CAPACITY TO DELIVER SKILLSTRAINING THAT FITS THE MARKET
Indonesia’s labor force is relatively young, and in the coming decade, the country can
expect to enjoy a “demographic bonus” in which the productive share of the population isgreater than the non-productive share. The population that is in its productive age (15-64
years old) reached 179.13 million people in 2018, more than two-thirds of Indonesia’s total
population. The value this demographic bonus represents is clear to the government, as
evidenced by the 20% of the state budget it allocates to education and vocational programs.

employing novel methods, the government believes thedemographic bonus will serve as a leap of progress for the““If we can focus greater on developing human resources andIndonesian nation. We need skilled human resources capable ofmastering knowledge now and in the future.

Airlangga Hartarto, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs65

In interviews for this report, Indonesian education policymakers described an effort toshift the national educational system to “encourage education that produces innovation,
to facilitate the students to learn from various sources, to engage in creating and sharing
knowledge and experiences, to learn to contextualize their knowledge, innovate withmachines and technology, and foster the students’ entrepreneurship skills througheducation 4.0; whereas in the previous method of learning, education 3.0, was only
focused on producing knowledge.”66
A significant focus of this effort is President Jokowi’s nationwide initiative, formalized bypresidential decree in 2016, to “revitalize” Indonesia’s vocational school system. There
are as many as 14,000 vocational schools in Indonesia enrolling 320,000 students, butmany of these students still graduate without skills that make them employable.67 Under
the president’s initiative, the Ministry of Education and Culture (MoEC) has implemented

56

THE FUTURE OF WORK ACROSS ASEAN

improvements across more than 2,000 vocational high schools. This includes the linking
of schools to businesses and industries through Indonesia’s “dual education system,” thesynchronization of curricula, and the development of learning resources that are oriented
toward “4IR competencies,” like augmented reality, virtual reality, 3D printing, tourism
promotion, game development, smart schools, IoT, e-commerce, and entrepreneurship. The
MoEC also hosts an online course platform, Rumah Belajar, that offers MOOCs (massive
open online courses) on a variety of subjects.
On a broader scale, the Ministry of Communication and Information (Kominfo)
inaugurated its Digital Talent Scholarship in 2018 to create a future cadre of digitaltechnicians equipped to navigate the country through 4IR. The two-month training isheld across 28 universities and 22 institutes of technology (Politeknik) across Indonesia
and engages in partnerships with global technology companies, including Amazon,
Cisco, Google, and Microsoft. Its goal is to increase Indonesian human capital in a wide
range of areas, including digital literacy, data science, IoT, AI, Big Data, cyber-operations,cybersecurity, cloud engineering, and digital policy.

to address skills mismatch and youth unemployment.
Revitalization of vocational education and training (VET) is now
one of the priorities of the Government of Indonesia to improveand strengthen skills of Indonesian workers and to increase
the readiness of Indonesian workers in facing globalization,““

Indonesia is committed to join forces with other G20 countries

technological changes as well as structural changes in
economies.

Rudy Salahuddin, Deputy for Coordination of Creative Economy,
Entrepreneurship and Competitiveness of Cooperatives and SMEs of theCoordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs68

POLICY PREREQUISITES FOR THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

57

The Asia Foundation/Conor AshleighWithin the private sector, some businesses are providing educational resources directly. In
the automotive sector, for example, PT Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indonesia (TMMIN)
supports a linking and matching program at several vocational schools that prepares
workers for 4IR. The company is implementing the Toyota Technical Education Program(TTEP) to contribute to up-skilling and re-skilling of workers in the automotive sectors
and increasing workers’ knowledge and skills in logistics, maintenance, manufacturing,and production management. Similarly, PT Astra Honda Motor (PTAHM) is working withvocational high schools in Solo, Central Java to develop and implement the Technicaland Motorcycle Business curriculum, which provides students with skills and technicalknowledge related to the motorcycle industry.

beneficial to the company. It is also to support the government
in developing Indonesia’s human resources. Through this““We have conducted this vocational programme because it isprogramme we can also produce competent workers who inturn will increase the productivity of the company.

Amirul Chusni, Division Head of Learning Centre of PT TMMIN69

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The Path Forward
Policymakers must ensure that the younger generation and productive population are
adequately equipped to handle the economy of the future by making sure that quality
education and training resources are available and accessible. At present, they are tacklingIndonesia’s educational and vocational needs through an arsenal of initiatives. Indeed, a rangeof ministries are responsible for TVET in Indonesia, the most prominent ones including the
MoEC, the Ministry of Research and Technology (Kemenristek), and the Ministry of Manpower(Kemnaker). Local governments are also playing an important role in TVET delivery.
However, as a result of the dispersal of responsibilities across bureaucracies,
synchronization and standardization on curricula and materials are not efficient. Moreover,
it is challenging for market-based information on current and future skills gaps andtraining demands to make its way to decision-makers and subsequently to educators.
Policymakers should enable partnerships between government, the private sector, TVET
providers, and online job posting platforms such as Kalibrr in order to anticipate andrespond to the skilling needs of the market with appropriate courses and trainings. They
may look to successful models like those implemented by TMMIN, PTAHM, and pilot
programs elsewhere in other sectors and throughout the country.
Indonesia’s geography is another constraining factor in the transfer of knowledge, as
resources, production facilities, and technological innovation are mostly centered in
Java, rather than the outer islands. Policymakers must commit to investing in digital
infrastructure and implementing skills training and education programs in remote areas(known in Indonesia as “3T” – outermost, frontline, and disadvantaged), a significant
challenge for an archipelagic nation composed of thousands of islands.

IMF/Stephen Jaffe (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

POLICY PREREQUISITES FOR THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION59

STRUCTURAL REFORMS THAT PROMOTEMORE INNOVATIVE ECONOMIES
Indonesia has a vibrant culture of creativity and entrepreneurship that nurtures a diverse
MSME sector. MSMEs (not including those in the agricultural sector) account for 61% of
GDP and 88% of employment, thus representing an important area of focus for the futureof Indonesia’s workers.70 Many MSMEs are pursuing opportunities in the digital economy,
and policymakers are aware of their potential to the economy. To that end, several
initiatives are under way to improve the overall climate for innovation and investment,
including investment in digital infrastructure, strengthening data protection laws, andattracting foreign talent and investment. For example, Indonesia is completing the Palapa
Ring network, a 35,000-km fibre optic cable network that will provide access to 4G services
throughout the archipelago, bring connectivity to rural areas and the eastern region, andaid in the development of the digital economy. The government is also making it quicker
and easier for overseas investors and foreign workers to obtain visas and residence permits
by simplifying processes and putting applications online.71
Bekraf, the national creative economy agency, has encouraged digital entrepreneurship
through a number of measures, including helping talented leaders register theirintellectual property, enabling access to mentorship through programs such as Bekraf
Developer Day and Scale Up Asia, and facilitating access to funding through the Go
Startup Indonesia platform and the Government Aid for Creative Economy Infrastructure(BANPER). Bekraf has also worked to build a sustainable and inclusive digital economy
ecosystem by targeting women and people in rural Java and outer islands in ICT throughthe Bekraf Digital Entrepreneurship (BDE) program, although enabling innovation andentrepreneurship in rural and outlying areas remains a major challenge for national andlocal policymakers. Bekraf’s merger into the MInistry of Tourism and Creative Economy in2019 may mean further alignment between the tourism sector and the creative economy.
Other government actions are working to scale up the country’s 4IR-ready human capitaland digital economy. The E-commerce Road Map of 2017-2019 is meant to synchronize
each government organization’s role in funding, taxation, protection of consumer rights,
vocational education and human resources, communication infrastructure, logistics,
and cyber security related to e-commerce and the digital economy.72 Other relevant
government initiatives include the “1000 Digital Startup Movement,” “Eight Million Micro,
Small, Medium Enterprises Go Online,” and “One Million Fishermen and Farmers Go
Online.”73

60

THE FUTURE OF WORK ACROSS ASEANAs agriculture still plays an important role in the economy, the Indonesian government
has encouraged private sector-led agricultural innovations such as 8villages, a mobile
platform for farmers in Indonesia. The 8villages platform enables real-time communication
between farmers, the public sector, and the private sector to gain and deliver information
about agriculture, such as the supply of agriculture product needs. Since its establishment
in 2012, the platform has gained more than 5,000 farmer members across Indonesia, andthrough its Rego Pantes e-commerce portal, it has enabled female farmers to promote andsell their agricultural products at fair prices.
In general, the government may be taking a more open and permissive regulatory stancetoward the digital economy. Foreign direct investment (FDI), which saw a slow-down in
2018, is expected to play a more important role in the future economy.74 Since his reelection,
President Jokowi has encouraged a loosening of restrictions on FDI, and policymakers in
his government view foreign investment in the digital economy as especially important togrowth across multiple sectors.75 Speaking at Davos in January 2019, Rudiantara, who was the
Minister of Communication and Information Technology up until the October 2019 cabinet
overhaul, said that his ministry would “act less as a regulator and more as a facilitator andaccelerator,” with the aim of nurturing 20 more Indonesian “unicorn” companies by 2025.76
Later in 2019, the government introduced further investment-friendly reforms, including therelaxation of data localization requirements for private sector entities (under Government
Regulation No. 71 of 2019), and the establishment of specific e-commerce regulation (under
Government Regulation No. 80 of 2019). Data localization requirements have been a key
point of contention between the government and global digital platform companies that relyon the free flow of data, and the new regulations may alleviate the concerns of companies
seeking to invest in Indonesia’s huge and growing market.

The Path Forward
Relying on its youthful population and a dynamic and growing digital economy, Indonesia
is taking a proactive approach to preparing for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Now
and in the coming years, policymakers should consider how regulation and government
programs can encourage the development of the digital economy and support 4IRreadiness in businesses and industries. They can do this by engaging in scenario planningto understand the implications of various policies intended to regulate the internet
and manage cross-border data flows. In addition, policymakers can make Indonesia amore attractive place for innovators to set up shop by continuing to seek regulatory
improvements in their IPR and tax regimes.
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CASE 3:

MALAYSIATHE FUTURE OF WORK IN MALAYSIA• Malaysia is a regional and global hub for the knowledge economy, with anexcellent business environment and strong entrepreneurship sector.
• The government takes a multi-pronged approach to developing labor market
intelligence, such as through public-private partnerships through the national
talent agency, TalentCorp, and the creation of the Malaysian Foresight Institute(myForesight) – a national initiative tasked with generating insights on “strategic
futures” for the country.
• Despite its status as a regional hub, only 28% of Malaysia’s workforce is classified
as “high-skilled,” and more than half of all Malaysian jobs are at high risk ofdisplacement by technology in the next two decades.
• Policymakers are implementing a number of initiatives to address the gaps
in Malaysia’s education and skilling programs, such as NECT-Gen-Industry 4.0
and TVET 4.0. But these training programs are often unappealing to citizens.
Moreover, they are inadequately responsive to market demands, in large
measure due to the surfeit of training providers and the system’s confusing,fragmented bureaucratic landscape.
• Malaysia is experiencing robust growth in its digital economy. However, policymakers
must continue to modernize regulations to encourage innovation, investments,
digital adoption and participation in the digital ecosystem, especially among
SMEs, so that the economy will remain regionally competitive and can support
the growth of innovative new businesses and new employment opportunities
in high-value, high-growth sectors. Government must also develop policies that
support the retention and attraction of top talent in the knowledge sector.
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The Asia Foundation/Leandro Justen

Malaysia has been actively seeking to promote itself as a hub for the global knowledge
economy and has been successfully attracting businesses in this area, using Singapore asa role model. Global e-commerce companies such as Alibaba use Malaysia as a regionalhub, and Malaysian startups encounter an excellent business climate (15th globally in theWorld Bank Ease of Doing Business Ranking) and strong entrepreneurship environment,
especially in Kuala Lumpur and Penang.77
Despite these successes, Malaysia, like most of Asia, relies on the export of goods andservices to drive economic growth, leaving its economy exposed to the volatilities of global
trade and competition from neighboring economies. Malaysia would be significantly
impacted by a slowdown in Chinese domestic demand, a US-China trade war, and a cyclical
downturn in global sales of electronics products. For the country to continue thriving, it willneed to make progress toward becoming a high-income, knowledge-based economy, while
ensuring that workers are equipped with the necessary skills to succeed in this environment.
As it stands, the country continues to face challenges in aligning the nation’s education
system with the skills Malaysian citizens need to join the 4IR workforce. Up to 54% of all
Malaysian jobs are predicted to be at high risk of displacement by technology during thenext two decades, with semi-skilled jobs being the most affected.78 Currently only 28% of
Malaysia’s workforce is classified as “high-skilled,” a figure that policymakers are keen toincrease, particularly through improvements in STEM and technical education.79 Malaysian
pupils score lower on mathematics and science than their counterparts in Singapore,
Thailand, China, and South Korea, and Malaysian universities are on track to graduate far
fewer students in STEM or technical fields than in arts and sciences. Other future-readyskills such as creativity, problem-solving, and collaboration are not emphasized sufficiently,
especially in rural schools.80 If left unaddressed, this will perpetuate a skills mismatch as
economic activity becomes more technologically and digitally advanced.81
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POLICY PARTNERSHIPS TO IMPROVELABOR MARKET DASHBOARDS
To address the challenges brought by 4IR transformations, the government of Malaysia
will need to pull all levers available to discover and manipulate new sources of labormarket data. With better data, policymakers can extract better market insight and makewiser investments in workforce development and educational reform. Under the current
Mahathir Mohamad administration, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI)
has taken up the issue of transformative development as the chair of the Industry4WRD
National Policy on Industry 4.0, which was launched in October 2018 by the Prime Minister
himself.
The Industry4WRD policy identifies the importance of collaboration among government
agencies as well as between the government and the private sector.82 The policy supports
public-private partnerships in expediting the dissemination of Industry 4.0 technologies
and knowledge transfer, and the government aims to work with global and local industry
leaders to set up digital technology and Industry 4.0 demonstration labs. This includes
the creation of public-private partnerships and collaborative programs for manufacturing
activities that foster digital adoption, collaborative deployment, and development of local
capabilities, especially in priority sectors and technologies. More challenging may be thestreamlining of government policy on innovation and skills development, which remains
spread among multiple agencies and ministries that do not always work in coordination.
A 2016 report from the OECD found 44 agencies and 10 ministries involved in programs to
support science, technology and innovation in Malaysia, with inadequate coordination andcommunication between them.
MITI drives the Industry4WRD national policy, overseeing technical working groups
in the Ministry of Finance (MOF); Ministry of Human Resources (MoHR); Ministry ofCommunications and Multimedia (KKMM): and Ministry of Energy, Science, Technology,
Environment & Climate Change (MESTECC). To increase data-sharing, the MoHR has
led a process of generating evidence-based market predictions using nation-wide
analytics, in alignment with the Human Resource Development Fund (HRDF), which is
closely connected to industry and funded from mandatory industry contributions. These
institutions also closely collaborate with Talent Corporation Malaysia Berhad (TalentCorp),
which partners with the public and private sector on initiatives that attract, nurture,and retain the expertise required by the current workforce, and the Ministry of Higher
Education (MoHE), which delivers technical and vocational education and training.

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The government is taking additional steps to generate better data to inform labor market
policies. TalentCorp and the MoHR’s Manpower Department worked together to develop
the Nurturing Expert Talent (NEXT) platform, a “national talent analytics platform that
acquires and analyses data about the quality and ability of the Malaysian workforce”(TalentCorp, 2017). TalentCorp also works with the MoHR’s Institute of Labour Market
Information and Analysis (ILMIA) to assemble an annual Critical Occupations List (COL),
which is a “comprehensive map of Malaysia’s most demanded current and future skills
and talent.”83 TalentCorp engages with industry and representative bodies to understandcurrent and future human resource requirements by carrying out research withrecruitment firms and professional networks and analyzing millions of job postings andreal-life career transitions with AI to develop insight into labor market patterns.
To encourage strategic foresight and long-term planning, the Malaysian government
has created a dedicated center, the Malaysian Foresight Institute (myForesight). This isa national-level initiative within the Malaysian Industry-Government Group for HighTechnology (MIGHT), an independent non-profit think tank under the office of the Prime
Minister. MyForesight seeks to create a common platform for the public sector, private
sector, and academia to come together to generate shared insights on “strategic futures”,
both locally and globally. The group conducts evidence-based inquiries into future policy
issues, trend analyses, and capacity-building through the development of trainings andtoolkits for government policymakers.

The Path Forward
Malaysia has implemented a multitude of measures, some replicating successfulmodels from neighboring countries like Singapore, to help the government generate
up-to-date labor market data and make informed policy decisions about its future. How
successful Malaysia will be in preparing its workforce for the challenges brought by 4IR
transformations starts with how well it can steer its complex of cross-ministerial working
groups to work with the private sector in establishing new sources of data and creatively
extracting insights out of existing sources. In addition, as Malaysia is positioning itself asa regional and global hub, it will have to direct its efforts towards parallel ministries andworking groups in the region to drive cross-border data-sharing initiatives.

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ENHANCED CAPACITY TO DELIVER SKILLSTRAINING THAT FITS THE MARKET
A number of public initiatives are under way to enrich Malaysia’s upskilling ecosystem
and retool the country’s education and TVET systems to meet the demands of 4IR. The
Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) is revamping the Malaysian education system byembedding the “Education 4.0” package into the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2015-2025.
The HRDF, whose mandate is to ensure the growth of a quality local workforce and meetthe demands of a digitalized global economy, has committed a total of RM 203 million to
three broad programs: Data and Data Professional Training, Empowering Women throughICT & Leadership Data Science, and the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation’s (MDEC)
Development Program on Critical ICT Skills. Its efforts are expected to grow the number ofskilled workers in Malaysia to 35% of the workforce and 1.5 million jobs by 2020.
The MoHE is also working to bridge the public-private gap and strengthen industryacademia links so that university offerings and knowledge transfer initiatives involve
industry. One such initiative is TVET 4.0, a framework that will help prepare students forchanges and new industries brought about by 4IR. Another initiative is 2u2i (2 years Uni,
2 years Industry), which provides undergraduates exposure to real working experiencethrough added learning time so they can develop the necessary skills in their respective
industries. Another novel program is CEO@Faculty, which engages top local andinternational CEOs and industry players to share knowledge, experience, and expertisewith students at Malaysia’s top universities, as well as provide input to academia to ensure
its relevance to industry.
The Ministry of Youth and Sports is working with tech giants such as Microsoft to upgrade
four Youth and Sports Skills Training Institutes (ILKBS) with Microsoft’s Smart Factory
module to make the ILKBS “IR4.0-ready.” The Ministry of Education and the Education
Performance and Delivery Unit (PADU) are also piloting a STEM Change Agent Network
together with Microsoft Malaysia and organizations such as Petrosains and Kidocode toorganize more engagement activities to spread awareness of STEM among Malaysian
parents. In February 2019, HELP University signed an MoU with Ricoh, one of the world’s
leading suppliers of office automation equipment, to co-develop a Professional Certificate
program in Enterprise Content Management and Document Workflow Management
practices. Through the sharing of approved case studies by Ricoh with HELP University,
students are able to gain a practical understanding of enterprise content management inreal-life work settings.

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THE FUTURE OF WORK ACROSS ASEAN

“

Graduates from TVET programmes that are joint ventures
between public TVET institutions and multinational companies
have proven to be successful, where almost 90% of TVET
graduates have been able to get a job after graduation.
Because of this, the major players such as public and private
TVET institutes should get out of their comfort zone and findeffective solutions. I urge that more major industry players
will be active in developing human capital and support theimplementation of national TVET policies, especially in helping“

local TVET graduates by recognising the skills they have andthen sharing the expertise available.

Mahathir Mohamad, Prime Minister of Malaysia84

Many stakeholders in the private sector and the nonprofit world are also implementing
initiatives to help Malaysians develop their technological skills and retrain for the jobs thatwill be demanded in the future. For example, the MySkills Foundation works with industry
to equip at-risk youth with market-relevant skills and provide job placement services. Oncestudents graduate with a certificate in a specific skill, MySkills helps them seek gainful
employment. Another example is KnowledgeCom Corporation Sdn Bhd, a specializedcompany that provides technology-related certification programs to university students,
recent graduates, civil service staff, and other working professionals. KnowledgeCom helps
businesses identify areas for improvement, determines relevant 4IR technologies thatwould aid in increasing productivity, and trains their workforces on that technology.
The Industry 4.0 Malaysia Association spearheads the promotion, implementation, andadvancement of Industry 4.0. It serves over 100 companies, most of which are practitioners
in the Industry 4.0 spectrum such as IoT specialists, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence,
Cloud, Cyber Security and Training. The Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA), thenational accountancy body, launched its MIA Digital Technology Blueprint in 2018 to help
accountants manage widespread changes arising from the digital economy and 4IR andguide them in developing action plans that are appropriate for their environment. The
Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM), established in 1968, is the largest private
POLICY PREREQUISITES FOR THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

67

sector economic organization in Malaysia, representing more than 3,000 manufacturing
and industrial service companies of varying sizes. FMM has led Malaysian manufacturers
in spearheading the nation’s growth and modernization, and frequently organizes
technology talks and conferences to create awareness and upskill employees in member
organizations.
The Malaysian government and private sector are working to raise public awareness of
upskilling programs, and the funding available for these programs, by holding regularawareness-raising sessions with workers and businesses. To encourage more employers
to train their workers to handle the digitalization of the production process, the HRDF
is collaborating with KnowledgeCom and Penang Skills Development Centre (PSDC)
to promote its initiative in National Empowerment in Certification and Training for
Next Generation Workers (NECT-Gen-Industry 4.0). HRDF is also working with nineof KnowledgeCom’s Centers of Excellence in Technology (CoET) to deliver high-end
technology certification programs through partnerships with global companies like SAP,
Microsoft, and Oracle.

World Bank/Nafise Motlaq (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

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THE FUTURE OF WORK ACROSS ASEAN

To engage women and connect them to the higher-value career opportunities in the digital
economy, the National Association for Women Entrepreneurs (NAWEM) has partnered with
the Centre of Applied Data Science (CADS) to address the gender gap in tech-related jobs.
In March 2019, DATA FOR HER was launched to tackle the issue of talent shortage in thetechnology industry via the increased participation of women. DATA FOR HER will engage
women from secondary schools, universities, and the workforce to break the glass ceilingthrough tailor-made initiatives, with the goal of closing the gender gap in the technology
industry. Another initiative inspiring women to excel in technology careers is Women Who
Code, a nonprofit that connects Malaysian women software developers to mentorship andlearning opportunities.

The Path Forward
Despite commendable initiatives like NECT-Gen-Industry 4.0 and TVET 4.0, Malaysia’s
education and skilling programs are not yet fully synchronized. There are more than
one thousand extant TVET training providers, including public institutions administeredby six different ministries, leading to a confusing menu of offerings of widely varying
quality, focus, and methods.85 Moreover, even though TVET programs boast a graduate
employability rate of 95%, citizens are not always eager to enroll in them due to relatively
low salaries. This “fragmented landscape” of upskilling resources, low pay earned by
graduates of TVET programs, competing accreditation standards, and other reasons
were cited in the Mid-Term Review of the Eleventh Malaysia Plan as major challenges
to be addressed in the coming years.86 High-level policymakers have started discussing
consolidation of the TVET industry – perhaps even putting all programming under a single
agency and a single ministry.87 Done sensitively, this may help make TVET more effective,
attractive, and responsive to market needs.
Initiatives like DATA FOR HER are helping close the gender gap in the technology industry,
but gender discrimination in today’s workplace still prevents Malaysian women fromaccessing the labor market, leading to fewer career opportunities compared with theirpeers in neighboring countries. Women in Malaysia are highly educated and comprise
64.5% of university graduates, but tend to leave the workforce to raise families, and many
never re-enter. The result is a loss of a large proportion of the educated workforce, and aself-reinforcing bias against hiring and promoting women as a result of the expectationthat they will not remain in the workforce. Policymakers should continue to support
initiatives that help businesses attract, train, and retain female workers, so that the genderdivide is not exacerbated by 4IR.
POLICY PREREQUISITES FOR THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION69

STRUCTURAL REFORMS THAT PROMOTEMORE INNOVATIVE ECONOMIES
Digital adoption is already fairly high in Malaysia, and internet penetration stands at 86%(compared to 60% within the region as a whole). Several online platform companies foundedin Malaysia have achieved success in domestic and regional markets and continue to inspirea generation of young Malaysian technology entrepreneurs. But policymakers recognize thelimits of these success stories and the extent to which further work is needed to truly evolvethe digital economy. In an April 2019 speech, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng acknowledged
the challenge of brain drain and cited the measures it has taken to strengthen the Malaysian
software and technology community.88 Modernizing regulations to encourage innovation,
investments, digital adoption, and participation in the digital ecosystem will be important in
the development of regionally competitive, innovative new businesses and ultimately new
employment opportunities in high-value, high-growth sectors.89“

I am proud to say that Malaysia has contributed to regional
digital innovation through high-profile successes like Grab,
iflix and Fave. However, the Government understands thatthe economy might not have the sufficient support systemfor budding entrepreneurs in the digital space. This has“

unfortunately contributed to the Malaysian brain drain as
talent go elsewhere to further develop their ideas.
Lim Guan Eng, Minister of Finance90

The government is undertaking a number of efforts to spur digital transformation.
The Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) is a government-owned institution
responsible for the management of the Multimedia Super Corridor in Malaysia asa technology industry and commerce zone. The MDEC is tasked with spearheading
Malaysia’s Digital Hub and various Technopreneurship programs to attract global andlocal tech start-ups. This resulted in related investments of RM16.3 billion in 2016. The
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THE FUTURE OF WORK ACROSS ASEAN

Malaysian Global Innovation and Creativity Centre (MaGIC), founded in 2014 under
then-Prime Minister Najib Razak and nearly shut down by the incoming Mahathiradministration, has survived and regained favor as an important incubator of new startups
and catalyst within the digital entrepreneurship community.91
To ensure that the digital economy works for SMEs, the Digital Free Trade Zone (DFTZ)
initiative was launched in 2017 under the National eCommerce Strategic Roadmap. It
aims to leverage the digital economy to boost SME export contribution to USD38 billion
and create 60,000 jobs by 2025. Among others, the SME Corporation Malaysia (SME Corp),
the central coordinating agency under the Ministry of Entrepreneur Development (MED),
spent RM 217.33 million to implement 28 innovation and technology-related programs,
benefiting 37,429 SMEs under its annual SME Integrated Plan of Action (SMEIPA).
With support from the government, SMEs are taking their own steps to prepare
themselves for technology-driven transformation. In June 2018, SME Corp collaborated
with Huawei Malaysia to sponsor a cross-sectoral study on 2,033 SMEs exploring the stateof SME adoption of ICTs. More than half of the companies surveyed invested in technology
to expand into new areas, reach new customers, and increase sales. It also found that
50% of SMEs have the “ICT leader” mindset of using ICT to grow their business or develop
a competitive advantage. The investments these companies are making now will yield
dividends for Malaysia’s future workforce in the form of new, higher-value jobs.

The Path Forward
Malaysia has embraced the possibilities of 4IR by implementing initiatives across multiple
fronts and by collaborating with stakeholders across the public-private-CSO spectrum.
Paired with an inclusive business-enabling environment, Malaysia is preparing itself wellto meet the demands of the future. One area where Malaysia could do more is in retention
and attraction of top talent. Would-be entrepreneurs in the digital space are seeking
opportunities in neighboring countries and elsewhere, and taking their ideas with them.
One study cited “low salary packages” and “limited promotional opportunities” among
the frustrations felt by Malaysian workers who decided to move abroad.92 On the other
hand, some evidence suggests that those who do go abroad for work or education are
increasingly returning home to pursue greenfield opportunities in their native countries.93
Policymakers may consider tailoring some of the many programs and initiatives toward
incentivizing the private sector to support more rewarding career paths and retain highly
skilled workers.
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TIMELINE OF ASEAN EFFORTS TO ADDRESSTHE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
Following the 30th ASEAN Summit in April 2017, ASEAN embarked in earnest on aprocess to examine the region’s readiness to address the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Leaders “recognized the need for ASEAN to be well prepared and able to maximize theopportunities from the ‘4th Industrial Revolution,’ so as to foster the region’s economic
growth, and promote inclusive and equitable economic development.” At the 49th ASEAN
Economic Ministers’ (AEM) Meeting in August 2017, the ASEAN Secretariat mandated thatan assessment of ASEAN’s readiness for Industry 4.0 be conducted. This assessment wascompleted a year later and presented to the AEM meeting in August 2018. Feedback wascollected from various ASEAN sectoral bodies, and the assessment was further deliberated
upon at two special Committee of the Whole (CoW) meetings in January and July of 2019.
These deliberations allowed ASEAN officials to discuss a series of next steps for advancing
the work of preparing for 4IR in the region and to further develop a concrete plan of action.
The byproduct of this work, the ASEAN 4-IR Readiness Assessment, adopted the World
Economic Forum’s Readiness for the Future of Production approach and analysis based on
the following five dimensions:

•
•
•
•
•

innovation and technology
human capital development
regulatory frameworks
infrastructure and connectivity
inclusive and sustainable growth.

In the meantime, ASEAN has endorsed several frameworks and plans that are relevantto this effort, including the ASEAN Digital Integration Framework, ASEAN Framework on
Digital Data Governance, and the ASEAN Agreement on Electronic Commerce. Plans for
future endorsements include the adoption of the ASEAN Digital Integration Framework
Action Plan 2019-2025, the ASEAN Innovation Roadmap 2019-2025, Guidelines on Skilled
Labor/Professional Services Development in Response to the 4IR, the ASEAN Declaration
on Industrial Transformation to Industry 4.0, and Framework for Digitalization of ASEAN
Micro Enterprises.
With respect to workforce-related matters, the ASEAN Labor Ministers (ALM) met in
April 2019 and adopted the Statement on the Future of Work: Embracing Technology for
Inclusive and Sustainable Growth. Its focus and aims are as follows:
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THE FUTURE OF WORK ACROSS ASEAN

• Preparing the workforce for a future which is becoming increasingly technological.
• Increasing the participation of women, people with disabilities, the elderly, andyouth in careers such as science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).
• Encouraging and supporting efforts of businesses including micro, small, andmedium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in the 4IR era.
• Sharing best practices among ASEAN member countries in responding to thechanging nature of employment with information and facilitation support.
• Promoting social protection initiatives in ASEAN member states in line with decent
work principles.
• Supporting efforts of employers’ and workers’ organizations in collective
representation and social dialogue processes.
• Strengthening tripartite relations towards decent work objectives for the workforce.
• Enhancing collaboration with other relevant stakeholders including other ASEAN
sectoral bodies in preparing ASEAN workers and businesses for a coordinatedresponse to future challenges.
• Increasing cooperation with ASEAN’s external partners, including the International
Labor Organization, to share experiences, models, and best practices for preparing
workers to adapt to future jobs.
The ALM then tasked the Senior Labor Officials Meeting (SLOM), with the support of theSLOM Working Group on Progressive Labor Practices to Enhance the Competitiveness of
ASEAN (SLOM-WG), to implement the provisions of the Statement.
A draft of the aforementioned Guidelines on Skilled Labor/Professional Services
Development in Response to the 4-IR was prepared by the ASEAN Business Advisory
Council (ASEAN-BAC) and spells out the roles to be played by both government and private
sectors. ASEAN-BAC has proposed a flagship project to spearhead its 4IR initiative. Entitled
ASEAN Human Empowerment and Development (AHEAD), the project’s aims include:• Increasing awareness, knowledge and preparation for digitalization.
• Addressing opportunities and challenges of digital transformation toward humancapital development.
• Promoting human capital development platform in ASEAN’s policy setting.
In sum, ASEAN’s overall approach to tackling the region’s preparedness for 4IR continues
to evolve following a series of recent efforts to integrate and coordinate the existing andemerging initiatives carried out by various ASEAN sectoral bodies. Through its ASEAN
Integration Monitoring Directorate (AIMD), the ASEAN Secretariat is currently attempting
to map out and tie together these respective initiatives into a unified process and system.

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CASE 4:

PHILIPPINESTHE FUTURE OF WORK IN THE PHILIPPINES• The Philippines has experienced steady growth that unfortunately has nottranslated to job creation.
• Many of the jobs that do exist are at high risk of elimination as a consequence ofautomation, such as those in the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector.
• Women are overrepresented in low-skilled, low-income positions, and only one in
two women of working age is in the workforce even though women are overall
better educated than men.
• TESDA is the national agency responsible for training and upskilling the country’s
workers, and it is working with other actors in the public and private spheres tonot only improve the availability of labor market data but also to upgrade the
TVET ecosystem in order to provide workers the upskilling resources needed toadapt to future market demands.
• More energy needs to be devoted to understanding and addressing the needs of
the Philippines’ female labor force.
• Technology is prevalent throughout the Philippines, with 76 million internet users (or71% of its population) and 124 million mobile subscriptions.
• The country is making great strides towards becoming an innovative economy.
However, it is still in the early stages of developing its digital policy and has further togo in creating an enabling regulatory environment that encourages innovation andinvestment in R&D.

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The Asia Foundation/Karl Grobl

The Philippines, the second most populous country in ASEAN with 104 million people,
has been on a steady growth trajectory with an increasing GDP over the past ten years.
However, this consistent performance has come with a pattern of “job-slow” growth:
overall GDP growth is not translating into job creation in the domestic economy.94 Morethan a third of private sector jobs are considered “precarious” employment without
full legal rights, and in the informal sector (particularly for self-employed and unpaid
family workers) over 38% are vulnerable to unemployment.95 These low-skilled workers
are not well-positioned for the transition to a knowledge economy. Moreover, theoverrepresentation of women in low-skilled and low-income positions remains a key
concern. Only one in two women of working age is in the workforce, even though womenare overall better educated than men. Women’s share of industry jobs has been declining,
and they hold fewer managerial or decision-making roles compared to ten years ago.96
The national unemployment rate is higher among the more educated, and 12% of
discouraged workers no longer work due to their perception that they lack the required
skills.97 This implies a demand-supply mismatch where the jobs being created do notsuit available workers’ qualifications.98 The number of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs)
who worked abroad from April to September 2018 was estimated to be 2.3 million.99
Remittances from these OFWs totalled over $32 billion in 2017 and represented more than
10% of the country’s GDP. 100

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The Philippines is among the countries in the region at the greatest risk of increased
unemployment as a consequence of automation. Nearly half of wage jobs are deemed
likely to be automated, along with 19% of self-employed roles.101 As robotic process
automation (RPA) reduces the need for human input in clerical positions, such asparalegals, IT support, administration, and customer service, the Philippines will be
particularly affected, as automation eliminates its market advantages of English language
proficiency and low labor costs.102 An estimate by the Philippines’ Department of Trade andIndustry predicted that AI could replace up to half of the 1.2 million Filipinos employedin business process outsourcing (BPO), a sector that represents about 7% of the country’s
GDP.103 Almost 70% of garment workers’ jobs and 89% of call center workers’ jobs are
considered at high risk of displacement by technology.104 Construction and tourism are two
significant sources of jobs in the Philippines, and both sectors are also considered to have ahigh capacity for automation.105

POLICY PARTNERSHIPS TO IMPROVELABOR MARKET DASHBOARDS
Policymakers in the Philippines recognize the need to act cross-sectorally to address thelabor market challenges expected to accompany 4IR. In 2018, the Technical Educationand Skills Development Authority (TESDA), the agency responsible for training andupskilling the country’s workers, was placed under the supervision of the Department ofTrade and Industry by order of the Office of the President in order to promote “greater
efficiency, agency convergence, and participatory governance in the delivery of essential
public services at the grassroots level.”106 Previously, TESDA and DTI had already partnered
together on the Skills Training for Employment/Entrepreneurship Program (STEEP), an
initiative to provide skills training and to prospective entrepreneurs start a business.
In late 2018, TESDA released its Labor Market Intelligence Report, “Technological Change
is Coming: The 4IR”. In it, TESDA acknowledges the importance of “empirical and up-todate data and materials necessary in addressing TVET concerns” in light of the challenges
accompanying the 4IR. The report states that it “must initiate discussions with the industry
and other government agencies of the implications of the Fourth Industrial Revolution tohuman resource development.”107 In July 2019, TESDA and the Department of Education(DepEd) signed an MOU to harmonize TVET in the Philippine basic education system, with
DepEd underscoring a need for coordination, harmonization, and alignment between the
two agencies across strategy, quality assurance standards, and data sharing.108
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THE FUTURE OF WORK ACROSS ASEANTESDA is also working with the private sector to improve the Philippines’ readiness for 4IR.
It has announced plans to work with an industry association, the Information Technology
and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP), to conduct a workplace skills
survey that will enable the government and private sector to determine which skills will beneeded in the 4IR era. The IBPAP has also developed, with support from the government,
the “Accelerate PH: Future Ready Roadmap 2022,” a blueprint aimed at upgrading thePhilippines’ IT-BPO sector, which it hopes will provide 1.8 million jobs and US$38.9 billion
in revenue by 2022.109
Public initiatives on behalf of women are implemented through the Philippines Commission
on Women and are mandated by Republic Act No. 9710, also known as the Magna Carta of
Women, which decrees that women are equal partners in the formulation, implementation,and evaluation of policies and plans for national, regional, and local development. While
there is a general acknowledgement of the need to be proactive in light of 4IR, the pictureof how technology will impact the Philippines’ female versus male labor force remains
unclear, if not contradictory. One ILO study finds that Filipino women are 2.4 times more
likely than men to work in jobs at high risk of automation.110 Another study by the Asian
Institute of Management finds the opposite, that men hold jobs with a higher average
probability of being automated than women, or 73% compared to 60%.111

The Asia Foundation/Conor Ashleigh

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The Path Forward
Cross-agency initiatives such as STEEP and the MOU between TESDA and DepEd
demonstrate that collaborations across bureaucracies can be productive. Now,
policymakers must continue channeling the same spirit of cooperation to develop better
labor market dashboards that can help them anticipate 4IR disruptions. Policymakers
should look for low-hanging fruit to immediately engage the private sector, which ismore attuned to the changing industrial climate. The workplace skills survey planned by
TESDA and IBPAP should focus on unearthing gaps in workers’ skills that, once filled by theappropriate training, can help them stay on top of the technologies predicted to sweep
through the BPO industry. Questions can also be asked that shed light on the format oftraining that would be most conducive to on-the-job learning for existing workers in the
sector. Existing resources like LinkedIn also have a role to play in sharing labor market
insights from their vast repositories of data on jobs and employment trends. Anotherarea where policymakers can act immediately is for TESDA to expedite revisions to its
regulations surrounding its Dual Training System, thus strengthening its coordination withand support of the private sector.
Presently, there is a dearth of data on the impact of technology on the Philippines’
female labor force. Policymakers must be more proactive in acknowledging the particularchallenges women will face as a result of technological disruption and assessing its
impact. A starting point is to explore public/private initiatives that will help policymakers
gather the data they need to better predict what trends are most likely to affect female
workers and entrepreneurs. Only when the picture is clearer can effective policies andprograms be targeted towards their upskilling needs.

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ENHANCED CAPACITY TO DELIVER SKILLSTRAINING THAT FITS THE MARKET
The majority of the working population in the Philippines do not have sufficient
educational qualifications; therefore, they only seek low-paid or low-skilled jobs.112
Occupational mobility is limited, and even though programs are offered under TESDA, only
about one-half of those who enroll complete the program and receive a certification. Mostof those who graduate from senior high school lack the skills to succeed in vocational or
skills training. Programs are finding that students do not pass the screening to begin techtraining programs because of their lack of critical thinking skills, and across the country,
there is a lack of computers as well as the teacher expertise needed to prepare students ingrade school.113 While the share of the population using the internet has risen from 25% in2010 to more than 60% in 2017,114 technology uptake still has room for improvement. In
addition, students will need stronger critical-thinking, problem-solving, and inter-personal
skills to overcome the job-skills mismatch that the Philippines is experiencing, and broad
curriculum changes are needed accordingly. 115
The government has put into place new policies to address aspects of the changing
labor force conditions, including the Philippine Telecommuting Act, the Unemployment
Insurance initiative, Jobs Fit 2022 and the Career Guidance Advocacy Plan 20182022. Recent figures from the Philippine Statistics Authority reflect decreasing youth
unemployment, and the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) believes
that programs implemented by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), suchas the Special Program for Employment of Students, Government Internship Program,and Job Start, have begun to reduce youth unemployment.116 Free support services arealso provided to first-time jobseekers, and emergency employment and youth bridging
programs are in place to support marginalized workers. 117““

Automation in the world of work represents great opportunities.
But it can also broaden, if not properly managed, social
inequalities and poverty.

Silvestre H. Bello III, Secretary of Department of Labor and Employment118

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Policymakers are advancing initiatives in concert with the private sector to keep pacewith the technology-driven forces expected to disrupt the nation’s labor market. DOLE
is prioritizing the upskilling, reskilling, and retooling of the Filipino workforce througha number of programs. This includes its Philippine TalentMap Initiative (PTMI), a joint
program with private sector entities like the SFI Group of Companies and HireLabs. At afoundational level, the Department of Education “plans to partner with businesses indrafting an education curriculum that is responsive to the needs of the economy” and thatwill “address the demands of tomorrow’s jobs, as it incorporates more high-value skills likecritical thinking, problem solving, and creativity.”119TESDA is also looking ahead towards upgrading its training regulations and programs withthe proliferation of 4IR technologies in mind. Its medium-term (2018-2022) development
plan specifically identifies as one of its core objectives the “[preparation of] the Philippine
workforce for the challenges posed by the 4IR.”120 At its third National Quality TechnicalVocational Education and Training (TVET) forum, themed “Driving Quality Assurancein TVET in the Fourth Industrial Revolution,” TESDA Secretary Isidro Lapeña said, “Inrecognition of the emerging 4IR, the changing skill sets of the 21st century and Science,
Technology, Engineering and Mathematics have to be integrated in TVET, which plays animportant role in the 4IR to equip the youth/learners of today for jobs in the future.”121

The Asia Foundation/Whitney Legge

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The Path Forward
Policymakers can gain immediate traction by increasing the public’s awareness ofexisting training and upskilling resources available to them like the JobStart program
and the TalentMap Initiative. Social media sites like Facebook are already commonly
deployed by government agencies to post announcements and can be used to spreadawareness of these programs to the country’s 76 million active social media users.
Partnerships with popular job portals like Monster Philippines, LinkedIn, and Pinoyjobs
can also be used in this capacity, as well to disseminate information on the skills mostsought by employers.
The government must also collaborate with the private sector and academia to guidestudents’ and workers’ acquisition of the skills that will be demanded in the future. For
example, among its guidelines to help the IT-BPO sector meet the needs of the digitalage, the IBPAP’s Roadmap 2022 suggests the creation of education advisory groups toserve as advocates in schools. The roadmap also recommends the establishment of aHigh Entry Placement Program (HEPP) targeted at graduates to directly take on valueadded work (mid- and high-skill roles) and Higher Education Technology Consortiums(HETCs) to enable the creation of high-skilled specialists. This kind of forward-thinking
strategic planning would be valuable in all sectors and help enhance the country’s overall
upskilling ecosystem.
In the long run, a stronger focus is needed on providing opportunities for Filipino workers
to develop the skills valued in a knowledge-driven economy, such as critical thinking,problem-solving, and interpersonal skills. With the same sense of urgency leaders in theprivate and public sectors are calling to enhance the TVET ecosystem, policymakers must
think creatively to introduce new models of upskilling and credentialing, incorporate
lifelong learning into the working training ecosystem, and incentivize the private sector totrain their workers.

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STRUCTURAL REFORMS THAT PROMOTEMORE INNOVATIVE ECONOMIESThe Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is leading innovative policy through its
Inclusive, Innovation-led, Industrial Strategy (i3S), a collaboration across academic,
industry and government sectors to solve business innovation challenges. The i3S builds
upon the DTI’s previous industrial strategy, but places greater emphasis on innovation inrecognition of the challenges and opportunities 4IR will pose. Through the i3S, DTI has
expanded its MOU with the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) to include
other key agencies, including NEDA, DICT, CHED, and DepEd to pursue implementationof the Inclusive Filipinnovation and Entrepreneurship Roadmap. At the 2018 Inclusive
Innovation Conference, Secretary Lopez discussed the roadmap, stating, “Our vision is ahealthy and inclusive innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem where stakeholders
work together and collaborate in a conducive business and policy environment and driven
by a creative talent pool and strong government-academe-industry relationship that
supports the incubation of innovation and market-oriented research.” 122
The Philippines may be seeing the results of such cross-sectoral collaborations, leaping 19
places in the Global Innovation Index, from 73rd in 2018 to 54th in 2019.123 New piecesof legislation to promote innovation and technology entrepreneurship, such as the Youth
Entrepreneurship Act, Philippine Innovation Act, and Innovative Startup Act, are beingrolled out with the hope of inspiring healthier startup ecosystems in metro Manila andother urban hubs. However, expenditure on research and development, a key base-level
driver of most economies’ knowledge and innovation sectors, remains lower than regional
neighbors and far below the UNESCO recommendation of 1% of GDP.
The Philippines’ policy environment around digital economies is still nascent but evolving
with an eye towards the growing importance of the digital economy and data security
in the 4IR. The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) wasestablished in 2016 to plan, implement, and promote the country’s ICT development
agenda. Its establishment strengthens the enabling environment for private investment,
coordinates policy dialogue, and expedites the development and enforcement ofregulations for ICT development. Speaking at the 2018 Data Privacy Asia conference,
Chairman of the National Privacy Commission Raymund Enriquez Liboro said, “As digitaltransactions expand, so do the risks, threats and harms [that they pose] to individuals.
Protecting citizens [has] gone beyond patrolling the streets and the country’s borders. Datais the new asset and personal data is the new target.”124

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to the business created from it, intellectual property can come““From the software, to the actual device carrying the software,in terms of copyright, or patent, or a trademark. IP will be at thecenter of this Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Josephine R. Santiago, Director General of Intellectual Property Office of
the Philippines125

In addition to promoting enabling ICT environments, the nation is also acknowledging
the importance of strengthening intellectual property rights in order to spur innovationand competition amongst entrepreneurs. The DICT was only created in 2016, so there is
still much progress to be made to the country’s ICT regulatory environment. The quality of
the Philippine telecommunication and ICT regulatory environment ranks poorly relative
to international best practices (127th on ITU’s ICT Regulatory Tracker for 2018), indicating
great potential for industry advancement through policy reforms.126

The Path Forward
The Philippines has a window of opportunity to accelerate the development of its
digital and knowledge economies. Startup communities in and around the city of
Manila, considered by some to be the most densely populated city in the world, aregrowing increasingly strong and mature. The city is already home to several major
financial technology (fintech) companies.127 The success of fintech in the Philippines
is no accident. Rather, t is a direct result of government efforts to establish industryfriendly regulations, a “Test & Learn” regulatory sandbox, and adjustment of “know-yourcustomer” requirements to match the needs of emerging non-bank players.128 Promotionof other industries could follow a similar blueprint of collaborative, industry-sensitive
regulations, and incentives. To inspire success in the innovation ecosystem and match thatof neighboring hubs like Jakarta and Singapore, the Philippines must dedicate further
investment in basic R&D, make progress in creating a nurturing investment climate forinnovative companies, and step up efforts to create spaces for innovators to advance newideas and found new companies.
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CASE 5:SINGAPORE
THE FUTURE OF WORK IN SINGAPORE• Singapore has a highly skilled, though aging, population, with high wealthoverall.
• Singapore consistently monitors its labor market to make evidence-based
predictions on future needs. Its partnerships in this capacity have moved beyond
its own borders to deepening regional collaborations, all the more necessary due
to the country’s small size and reliance on global trade networks and the flow ofhuman capital.
• It is estimated that one-fifth of Singapore’s full-time workforce will have theirjobs displaced by 2028. Compared with other developed economies, Singapore’s
private sector provides one of the lowest levels of in-job training. But the
government is offering an array of programs, such as its SkillsFuture and Adapt
and Grow programs, to help workers to upgrade their skills and competencies
and even train for new careers.
• Singapore is recognized as a global leader in innovation as a result of its stableand effective regulatory environment, a strong tertiary education system, and an
exceptionally high rate of employment in knowledge intensive jobs. However, itcannot be complacent, as nearby urban hubs attempt to replicate the policies thathave worked well for Singapore.

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ILO/Giorgio Taraschi (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Singapore has a highly educated population with almost universal literacy andbilingualism, which facilitates international business and collaboration. The country
has already adopted advanced 4IR technologies across many areas of government andbusiness. As a small nation-state, it does not contend with the same challenges as its
highly populated neighbours.
Despite these assets, Singapore faces a number of challenging demographic trends.129
In the coming years, its workforce growth will slow due to an aging population and low
birth rate.130 Millennials comprise an ever-greater share of the workforce – estimated toreach 75% in the next decade – and as they do, they are likely to change jobs with more
frequency than the previous generation.131 As life expectancy improvements allow agreater proportion of the population to attain 100 years of age, these workers may choose
to or need to remain in the workforce longer.132 Meanwhile, educated, able, and highly
skilled members of the workforce 40 years and older voluntarily leave the workforce
as they reach a level of affluence where they do not feel the need to continue working.
Indeed, one out of every five Singaporeans in this age group now follows this pattern,a trend which poses challenges to employers seeking experienced workers for senior
positions.133

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Although Singapore has a very low unemployment rate (2.1% in 2017), disruptive
technologies are anticipated to displace one-fifth of Singapore’s economy by 2028.134 The
workers most at risk to be displaced by 4IR technologies are those over fifty years old andthose without tertiary education.135 Singaporean workers over fifty years of age who loseor leave their employment have a 57.6% re-employment rate, compared to more than
76% for those aged 30 and below. Consequently, a large portion of workers at risk of being
displaced by automation are also at risk of being structurally unemployed, and additional
support networks will be needed to help them retrain and re-enter the workforce.136 In
addition, as e-commerce becomes more widely used in the years ahead, growing from
5.3% of retail sales in 2017 to an estimated 10.3% in 2022,137 mobile and e-commerce
platforms are also likely to displace Singapore’s “brick-and-mortar” retail establishments
and the workers that staff them.138
The Singaporean government has adopted a centralized planning system to assess thechanging requirements of the market, respond to the needs of its citizens, and prepare
the workforce for the shifting requirements of the 4IR world. Yet with an aging workforce
and an increasing trend towards early retirement among many of the nation’s most skilledworkers, the government will need to develop incentives to keep its most skilled workers in
the workforce for longer, and to find ways to retrain and upskill workers over fifty.

POLICY PARTNERSHIPS TO IMPROVELABOR MARKET DASHBOARDSThe Singaporean government’s centralized 4IR strategy is based on long-term systematicplanning and “tripartite” cooperation between the government, the private sector, andworker representatives. The priority the government accords to this area is evident in
its allocation of high-level support to 4IR initiatives. For instance, the Council for Skills,
Innovation and Productivity (CSIP) was formed in 2016 and later promoted to the level ofSpecial Committee by the Prime Minister. Similarly, five Cabinet ministers (along with 25
leading members of the private sector) were appointed to the Committee on the Future
Economy (CFE). The CFE’s recommendations are implemented by the Future Economy
Council (FEC), which is chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat and includes
members from government, industry, labor unions, academia, and training institutions.139
Over the past several years, the FEC has been developing Industry Transformation Maps
(ITM) to chart strategies for 23 industries under six clusters, representing more than four86

THE FUTURE OF WORK ACROSS ASEAN

fifths of the nation’s GDP. These Maps are meant to systematically plan for each sectorin Singapore and transform the economy for the 4IR. Committees meet regularly toforecast three to five years into the future, recommend regulations, and conduct constantevaluations that pave the way for further iterative planning.

Maps] as just another set of vertical silos. The nature of change,
both structural changes in the global economy as well as““

We really don’t want to think of ITMs [Industry Transformation

technological changes, is that industry boundaries will also
begin to blur.

Heng Swee Keat, Deputy Prime Minister140

Singaporean policymakers consistently collect and assess data on the workforce andmarketplace to monitor current labor market demand and make evidence-based
predictions on the future needs of the labor market. For example, the Manpower Ministry
has recently made it compulsory for companies to report retrenchments within fiveworking days, if five or more staff are retrenched within six months. This enables thegovernment and unions to act on the data more quickly. There have also been calls to use
data from job postings on the national Jobs Bank more fully. For example, if a vacancy fora particular type of job is repeatedly re-posted, it may indicate more Singaporeans needmore skills in that area.
The private sector and government are partnering across a number of sectors nationwide
to pilot a range of innovative new 4IR initiatives. For example, under the Government’s
Research, Innovation, and Enterprise 2020 plan a Future of Manufacturing (FoM) initiative
launched in 2015 brings together the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI); the Economic
Development Board (EDB); and the Standards, Productivity, and Innovation Board (SPRING
Singapore) in collaboration with industry and trade associations. FoM seeks to develop
public-private partnership platforms to drive technological innovation, knowledge transfer,and adoption across the manufacturing industry. The goal of the initiative is to position
Singapore as “a location of choice for developing, test-bedding and deploying advanced
breaking-ground technologies in the manufacturing sector.”141
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The National Trade Union Congress (NTUC), a national confederation of trade unions
that also serves as a network of professional associations across all sectors in Singapore,launched a Future Jobs, Skills and Training (FJST) unit in 2017 to gather data on specificcompanies and industries that can expect new investments and jobs over a three-yeartime frame. FJST’s goal is to act as a “strategic nerve centre, leveraging the expanded
Labour Movement network and tripartite partner, to sense new and emerging
opportunities so that strategic action can be taken to enable [workers] to secure betterskills, better jobs, and better wages.”142 Its research will be shared with training providers
and institutes of higher learning with the purpose of developing more relevant skills
and training courses. The FJST also offers online training and skill-building resources forworkers, some free and some via subscription.

The Path Forward
Singapore is well ahead of its ASEAN neighbors in collaborating cross-sectorally to
extract useful data to inform labor market policies and tailor future-ready skills-building
initiatives. Its partnerships have moved beyond its own borders to deepening regional
collaborations, all the more necessary due to the country’s small size and reliance on
global trade networks and the flow of human capital. For example, the Committee on the
Future Economy is working to help the workforce “acquire deeper knowledge of regionaland global market, by spending time in these countries.”143 The SkillsFuture Leadership
Development Initiative is one example of this type of collaboration, and the governmentis exploring more such “internationalization programs” for businesses to improve theirunderstanding of Asian and global markets.
Singapore ranked first globally in the World Economic Forum’s most recent Technology
Readiness Index (2016), which assesses the factors, policies, and institutions that enable a
country to fully leverage ICTs for increased competitiveness and well-being. Policymakers
should continue to seek novel ways to generate and leverage labor market data, especiallyfrom government-supported platforms like MyCareersFuture and MySkillsFuture, but thecountry’s strong government commitment to the digital agenda and to longer-term planning
initiatives means that it will continue to lead the world in its technological preparedness.

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ENHANCED CAPACITY TO DELIVER SKILLSTRAINING THAT FITS THE MARKET
With the arrival of technological changes in the marketplace and the spread of the “gigeconomy,” workers are expected to acquire transferable skills and to engage in continuing
education to remain competitive in the changing job market. Currently, the nation has oneof the lowest proportions of employer-funded training for employees compared to otherdeveloped countries such as Denmark, Norway, and Germany.144 One factor in companies’
slow response to the call for training is a fear that their investments may benefit someone
else if workers do not stay long in a job.­145
By some measures, Singapore’s workforce gender gap is more severe than in either thePhilippines or Lao PDR, affecting women’s experiences of hiring, compensation, andpromotion.146 The digital economy is likely to exacerbate these disadvantages for female
workers. Industry leaders cite Singaporean attitudes toward the role of women in theworkforce and a general reluctance among women to train in technology skills requiredby 4IR as key factors preventing greater participation by women in these programs andin employment in emergent sectors.147 As elsewhere in ASEAN, Singaporean womenare significantly underrepresented in STEM fields (holding only 30% of STEM degrees
and a quarter of STEM jobs). This is in spite of the fact that women comprise 45% of theSingaporean workforce and 50% of enrolled university students.148
Women in Singapore do, however, have access to a variety of reskilling and upskilling
initiatives, many of which are government-funded, as well as an increasing number ofprofessional groups that serve as resources and networks. One such network is Womenin Tech Singapore, which convenes and connects women in or interested in STEM fields.
Another group, the Singapore chapter of Girls in Tech, a global non-profit organization
working to reduce gender inequality in high-tech industries and startups, focuses on “theunderlying inhibitors of women in tech in Singapore, [which] include social perception and[the] lack of parental encouragement, academic support, industry exposure, role models,and support communities.”149
Broadly, the government is allocating more resources to helping professionals, managers,
executives, and technicians (PMETs) find new jobs by subsidizing their wages via the Career
Support Programme. PMETs can work and get training at the same time through morethan 100 Professional Conversion Programmes (PCP) in sectors that are expected to growin the future (Seow, 2017). Workforce Singapore (WSG), formerly the Singapore Workforce
Development Agency, is a statutory board under the Ministry of Manpower. Through the
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Dickson Phua (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Attach-and-Train programme (AnT), WSG prepares PMETs to become job-ready, ahead ofplacement in selected sectors where there are strong growth outlooks and good future job
opportunities. It is an extension of the PCP and puts PMETs through conversion training
to take on a new career in growth sectors.150 WSG’s Adapt and Grow program also helps
workers adapt to changing job demands and re-skill for new careers.
Another initiative the government has implemented is its SkillsFuture training courses
through SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG), launched in 2015. The SSG conducts regularsurveys with individuals and private companies to track the outcomes of those who haveparticipated in its Workforce Skills Qualification (WSQ) training courses. This survey is set
to be progressively broadened to cover the courses funded by the Ministry of Education(MOE) and SSG. The SSG also implements the Earn and Learn Program (ELP), which offers
employers an opportunity to hire fresh graduates and allow those graduates who lackwork experience to gain training in parallel with their jobs. The eight-week program allows
employees to spend several days a week working on a job and the remaining days of theweek getting upskilled or trained alongside it. The program has seen high participation
because of its creativity in allowing new graduates to enter a rapidly changing workforce,for which the academic setting cannot sufficiently prepare them, and simultaneously gain
marketable skills.151

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The Path Forward
Faced with an aging workforce and an increasing trend towards early retirement among
many of the nation’s most skilled workers, the government will need to explore policies
to keep its most skilled workers in the workforce for longer and to find ways to retrain
and upskill older workers. The SkillsFuture and Adapt and Grow programs offer new
approaches for workers to upgrade their skills and competencies. Reaching out to older
workers may be a matter of further targeting their outreach, or further honing the“lifelong learning” message policymakers have adopted. In addition, policymakers canwork with the private sector to promote mentor-mentee models, which may improve selfesteem and motivation in older workers and shape employers’ and younger employees’
perceptions and attitudes towards older workers.
Policymakers should also explore various strategies to further incentivize employer-led
training and retraining activities (and address companies’ reluctance to engage in training).
Other countries have experimented with an array of policy tools to varying degrees ofsuccess, including employer subsidies, tax concessions, levy systems, statutory rights totraining leave, training partnerships between larger firms and small businesses utilizing
large firm resources, and pooling of resources between small businesses. No one-size-fitsall policy approach works, and Singapore can experiment with different arrangements
targeting different sectors and different sized firms in order to optimize the provision oftraining to its workers.

Jerry Van Krasten (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

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STRUCTURAL REFORMS THAT PROMOTEMORE INNOVATIVE ECONOMIES
Singapore has been ranked as the most competitive economy in the world as of 2019. It isalso recognized as a global leader in idea generation, entrepreneurial culture, openness,
and agility.152 The nation ranks eighth globally (and first outside of the U.S. and Europe) on
the 2019 Global Innovation Index (GII).153 This performance on the GII is largely due to its
strong “inputs” to innovation, such as a stable and effective regulatory environment and astrong tertiary education system, and an exceptionally high rate of employment (56%) in
knowledge-intensive jobs.154“

The Fourth Industrial Revolution is a dynamic and continuing
process. We cannot predict how exactly it will unfold, but I am
optimistic about ASEAN’s future because ASEAN has its own
competitive strengths, and by pooling our ideas and resources
and integrating our economies, we will be in a strong position“

to ride on this fourth wave to bring tangible benefits to our
economies and our peoples.

Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister of Singapore155

The Singaporean government’s approach to innovation is relatively open and tolerant; thisenables new ideas and new technologies to be tested and refined within boundaries set out
by the state, and for regulators to work directly with industry and workers to determine how
best to manage potentially disruptive innovations. Regulatory sandboxes are commonly used
to provide space for new and untested technologies, such as autonomous vehicles, fintech,and 5G.156 This approach sometimes sets Singapore apart from other regional economies. For
example, while crackdowns on cryptocurrency occurred across East Asia, Singapore alloweda wave of Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), appointed a “Chief Fintech Officer” at the central
bank, and began trialing use cases of blockchain and distributed ledgers as early as 2016.157
This engendered greater trust between government and industry and encouraged many offintech’s new players to set up shop in Singapore rather than elsewhere.
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In addition to these sandboxes, Singapore’s policymakers benefit from the offerings of“strategic foresight” institutions such as the Center for Strategic Futures, a group under thePrime Minister’s Office that uses scenario planning processes to analyze possible outcomesover the next 20 years and for specific emerging issues. To spark dialogue around theseissues, the Center even produced a set of illustrated “Driving Forces Cards” that delineate
the current state of play, expected developments, as well as uncertainties with regard to
new technologies.158
Finally, as a small city-state of just over five million people, Singapore is heavily reliant
on global value chains to sustain the domestic economy. Global integration is therefore
first on the list of the Committee on the Future Economy’s list of strategy areas, and it
puts a strong emphasis on enabling free and open markets, deepening linkages withinternational partners, and resisting protectionism. Recognizing that aspects of the futureof the economy lie in digital services, and that the international rules and norms for thiskind of trade are still being determined, Singapore has attempted to position itself as athought leader on global digital economy regulation and trade. In May 2019, Singapore
signed an unusual “Digital Economy Partnership Agreement” with Chile and New
Zealand that aims to “set forward-looking standards on digital trade, and establish newinternational approaches to support the digital economy and trade in the digital era.”159

Rolls-Royce PLC (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

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The Path Forward
Singapore’s digital economy is very strong, and the country is better placed than almost
any other nation to take advantage of the opportunities presented by the Fourth Industrial
Revolution. But looking ahead, policymakers will need to consider a few troubling
indicators that may suggest certain weaknesses.
First, it should be noted that Singapore’s high ranking on innovation indices is largely
due to the so-called “inputs” to innovation, such as strong institutions and contract
enforcement, rather than the “outputs,” such as patents registered and production ofcreative works. This points to an efficiency gap, in other words, “lower levels of output
relative to their innovation input,” compared to other developed countries.160 In fact, theWorld Economic Forum’s Executive Opinion Survey identified “insufficient capacity toinnovate” as the second most problematic factor for doing business in Singapore, after“restrictive labor regulations”.161 Though its open and inviting business environment willcontinue to attract some of the world’s top companies, Singapore’s aging populationand low labor productivity growth rate threaten to hold back the domestic knowledge
economy, especially as nearby urban hubs attempt to replicate more of the inputside policies that have worked so well for Singapore. Policymakers will need to avoid
complacency and find ways of encouraging greater creativity and innovation among the
population.
Second, the evolution of the digital economy is leading societies into uncharted territory
with respect to social and psychological factors. This aspect of technology-driven
disruption is not yet well understood, but will be crucial for Singapore to address as botha global innovation leader and a society where dissatisfaction with the psychologicalimpacts of technology is exceptionally high. In a recent survey by Dentsu Aegis Network,
64% of Singaporeans felt that the pace of technological change was “too fast,” and only
25% felt that digital technologies were meeting people’s psychological needs. These
metrics were much more negative than in comparable high-income countries.162 To stem
greater discontentment and a backlash against the technology industry, Singapore could
take a leading role in advocating for digital economy policies and practices that support
health and wellbeing.

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THE FUTURE OF WORK ACROSS ASEANCASE 6:THAILANDTHE FUTURE OF WORK IN THAILAND• The national Thailand 4.0 vision emphasizes innovation and technology as a pathout of the middle-income trap, which has plagued Thailand for years. The Thaigovernment has invested heavily in infrastructure and efforts to raise foreign
investment and exports.
• Major improvements are needed to bring the country’s education system in linewith international standards. Not only do Thai students’ scores on assessmentsof science and mathematics sit well below global averages, the gap between thequality of education in rural and urban areas is wide.
• A severe lack of skilled workers, especially technical specialists and vocational
school graduates, and a population that is aging much faster than regional
competitors will make it difficult for the country to find enough workers to fill
the needs of its evolving industries.
• Thailand’s vibrant digital economy, especially its startup ecosystem, is alreadyenticing investment from foreign and domestic players. However, policymakers
will need to closely monitor this sector to ensure that regulation keeps up withthe pace of innovation.

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95

Pablo Fernández (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

The most prominent national policy vision in Thailand today is “Thailand 4.0,” a broad
economic model that promotes the role of technology, innovation, and creativity
in unlocking a new stage of development. The policy is the successor of prior visionstatements stretching back decades: “Thailand 1.0”, which focused on agriculture,“Thailand 2.0” (light industry), and “Thailand 3.0” (advanced industry).163 With increased
importance placed on innovation and the knowledge economy, Thailand 4.0 represents a
shift in national priorities toward supporting growth industries, as well as enhancementof human capital to train or re-train so-called “super workers” who can fill the new jobs
these industries demand. Priority industries include agriculture and biotechnology, foodand beverages, smart electronics, medicine, wellness tourism, biofuels and biochemicals,
automation and robotics, health care and medical services, digital industries, and aviationand logistics.164
In measures of overall readiness for 4IR transformation, Thailand’s prospects are mixed.
Its economy has a strong base and high degree of complexity already, and some larger
companies have begun investing in new technologies and R&D.165 Its innovation andtechnology ecosystem is also strong, albeit mostly confined to hubs in metropolitan
Bangkok and Chiang Mai. But to compete with regional neighbors like Vietnam andIndonesia, wider adoption of new technologies within Thai businesses and major
improvement of human capital development within the country will be required.

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The share of Thai jobs at risk of automation is lower than in neighboring countries, forexample, at 44% in Thailand compared to 70% in Vietnam.166 However, female workers andlow-skilled workers assume a disproportionate amount of that risk, and if the low-skill jobs
that currently exist in the manufacturing sector are transformed by automation, millions
of workers may be forced to turn to the informal sector, lowering overall labor productivity
and hurting the livelihoods of workers and their families.167 At the same time, Thailand’s
population is aging extremely rapidly. Indeed, the anticipated decline in its working age
population between 2016 and 2040 is the highest in developing Asia. This demographic
trend will place further pressure on policymakers to improve labor productivity in the
coming years.168
Thailand has already made great progress advancing its digital economy, and now, it
will have to distribute this progress more evenly among its citizens. It must go beyond
Thailand’s urban areas and special economic zones to rural areas, and give citizens there
access to digital infrastructure, skills training resources, and new economic opportunities.169
This means, among other things, that major improvements are needed within the country’s
education system, which falls behind international standards. Thai students’ performanceon assessments of science and mathematics ability stand well below global averages, andthere are acknowledged gaps between the quality of education in rural and urban areas.170
To overcome the country’s structural challenges, the Thai education system will need toadapt to provide students with better skills and career pathways in the 4IR economy.

POLICY PARTNERSHIPS TO IMPROVELABOR MARKET DASHBOARDSAs Thailand assumed the role of ASEAN chair for 2019, it committed to placing significant
emphasis on “advancing partnerships for sustainability” to drive the region forward.
Domestically, too, the Thailand 4.0 strategy encourages ministerial bodies to work
together to create policies that align with shared goals. Major e-government initiatives, forexample, aim to harmonize systems and databases between agencies, and free access topublic-interest data is enabling companies and private citizens to create new use cases andproducts.
Several different Thai ministries have begun long-term plans for digitization and industrial
transformation. The Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (MDES) launched the Thailand
Digital Economy and Society Plan in 2014; the Ministry of Labor (MoL) is implementing
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a 20-year Strategic Framework on Human Resource Development (2017-2036); and theMinistry of Industry (MoI) has a 20-year strategic plan called Industrial Transformation
Towards 4.0. The MoI is also undertaking a skills gap assessment of various industries,
which it expects to complete by the end of 2019. The Ministry of Higher Education,
Science, and Innovation (MHESI), formed in May 2019, aims to promote research andinnovation for commercial uses, produce human resources, and innovate on a cycle. Its goal
is to generate new bodies of knowledge to equip Thais with skills and capabilities that will
enable them as well as the country to move forward in the Thailand 4.0 era.171
These preparations are putting the government on the right path towards 4IR-readiness.
However, many obstacles stand in the way of Thailand achieving its vision of partnerships
for sustainability, such as converting traditional and unstructured data into usable digitalformats.

“

Big data is a key topic for the government, currently eachministry operates with a silo mentality and collects data
without any consolidation […] Thailand has a plan to develop
a portal that pools all the data, but this will take time. Moving“

forward, the government really needs to think outside of thebox about how to effectively use the data.

Nuttapon Nimmanphatcharin, President & CEO of Digital Economy
Promotion Agency173

The Digital Government Development Agency under the Office of the Prime Minister isleading agencies in the push for bureaucratic transformation and reduced “silo-ization” in
the Thai government.174 MDES has strong support from the Royal Thai Government andis responsible for coordinating the activities of several different agencies involved in datacollection and digital services. These agencies include the Digital Economy Promotion
Agency, the National Statistical Office, the Communications Authority of Thailand, theElectronic Transactions Development Agency, and several others.175 MDES also oversees the98

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ILO/Emmanuel Maillard (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

National Digital Economy and Society Committee, a body chaired by the Prime Minister andmandated to “steer the implementation of Thailand’s digital economy.”176 The Committee’s
province ranges from development of national broadband to the promotion of the creative
economy and ICT skills education.

The Path Forward
To progress toward savvier, evidence-based policymaking, Thailand will need to build
the data and digital capacity of its government bodies and individual civil servants. The
office of the Civil Service Commission has identified digital capacity and ICT experienceamong public servants as a concern. As a case in point, the civil service exam does notprioritize digital or electronic data skills.177 This leaves the public sector at a serious
operational disadvantage, particularly as the use of data and technology in the private
sector approaches breakneck speeds. The Digital Government Development Agency isimplementing a number of programs and technical solutions to encourage digitizationof documents and databases. It is also working with the Civil Service Commission to
introduce digital literacy training programs for public servants. But a culture of data use
and data sharing will need to be inculcated among the Thai bureaucracy to generate
insights relevant to the contemporary labor market and to encourage future collaborations
with the private sector.

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ENHANCED CAPACITY TO DELIVER SKILLSTRAINING THAT FITS THE MARKET
Currently, Thailand does not have enough specialists and experts in high-tech industries
to position it as a leader in the region, with the human resources needed to thrive in the
Fourth Industrial Revolution. Enrollment in technical fields remains relatively low. Only
1,295 individuals were enrolled in science and technology PhD programs in Thailand in
2013, compared to the 2,138 PhD candidates in social science and humanities.178 To address
the lack of industry-ready workers and equip Thais with ICT skills, the government plans tobudget US$1 billion for 12,290 doctoral researchers to serve the country’s development andstaffing needs over the next 20 years.179
Policymakers are also addressing the country’s gender disparities in STEM education, which
begin as early as primary school and continue through higher education. The Ministry of
Education (MoE) will partner with UNESCO to promote STEM education among girls andwomen through UNESCO’s Global STEM and Gender Advancement project (SAGA). It is
the first country in the ASEAN region to pilot a “policy toolkit” that analyzes the impact
of policies on gender disparities in STEM.180 The Thailand 4.0 policy is meant to transformthe country without leaving anyone behind, so increasing and ensuring opportunities for
women is a vital part of this agenda.

World Bank/Gerhard Jörén (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

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Vocational schools, on the other hand, suffer from a serious image problem, being
associated with lower-class status, machismo culture, and “gang wars” between rival
colleges.181 Despite the strong demand for technical graduates who can build, manage, andservice the automated factories envisaged by Thailand 4.0, most middle-class Thai families
would be loath to send their children (and especially their daughters) to places with thisreputation. The government is working to overcome these prejudices, and recently, theOffice of Vocational Education Commission (OVEC) reported a rise in Thailand’s ratio of
vocational students to 39.7%, towards the government’s goal of 50%.182

adopting modern technologies, which require a certain levelof know-how to operate […] The problem is that vocational““

More investors in the EEC [Eastern Economic Corridor] arecolleges and universities in the vicinity of the EEC can only
supply about 30% of the demand for skilled workers.
Apichart Thongyou, chairman of EEC Human Resource
Development Centre183

One interesting program that may serve as a model for future education and training
initiatives is a national online course platform called “Thai MOOC” (massive online open
course).184 Established in 2017 through a partnership between MDES, Ministry of Scienceand Technology (MoST), and MoE, Thai MOOC is built on the open source edX framework,
and its aim is to fulfill the “Thailand 4.0” vision of ensuring lifelong learning for citizens.185
The innovative model has partnerships with government organizations and universities
and allows people to enroll remotely in short-term courses and earn certificates that arerecognized by Thai universities.
Public-private partnerships to address the Thailand 4.0 agenda are nascent. However,existing partnerships show promise in contributing to the upskilling of workers.
One example is a project between the MoL and the Automotive Human Resources
Development Academy (AHRDA). The government aims to make Thailand a hub for
automotive production in the ASEAN region, as the industry is one of the country’s ten

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“S-Curve” industries, or industries targeted for growth. To develop talent to support the
automotive industry, the MoL has joined forces with AHRDA to develop a “short-term
curriculum on automobile parts production.”186 With this course, the government hopes toprovide vocational training for students at Nakhon Nayok Technical College and Chon Buri
Technical College. In addition, the program aims to provide training for trainers, throughemphasis on planning, evaluations, and formulation of skills standards. Mr. Boonlert
Teeratrakul, the Deputy Permanent Secretary of Labor, believes this collaboration between
the private and public sectors is an “ideal model to extend to other areas in the future.”187
Another example is the work being done to develop the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC)
through private sector partnerships with OVEC. OVEC has worked in partnership with the
Office of the Higher Education Commission (OHEC), the Eastern Economic Corridor Office(EECO), and the Board of Investment (BOI) to train workers to match the demands of theindustries that could potentially locate in the EEC. The initiative’s emphasis is on supplying
vocationally trained personnel to the 10 S-Curve industries, focusing especially on fourindustries, including automotive and parts, energy, food processing, and microelectronics.
One public-private partnership, the Chevron Enjoy Science project, focuses on Thailand’s
youth, aiming to augment “2S” or “STEM + Skills” through improved STEM education and
TVET across the country.

The Path Forward
Going forward, efforts to enhance Thailand’s TVET and technical skills capacity should
continue to establish the kinds of public-private partnerships exemplified above.
Furthermore, policymakers should direct efforts to help TVET meet minimum regional
standards. One possible path forward involves borrowing a strategy from Singapore, wherecompanies are required to commit to training and upskilling workers or pay a tax to fundlocal education. Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, for example, was formed
with such support. All firms were required to contribute to this job-training fund and could
apply for a refund if they developed proposals that outlined how the funds could be used
to provide technology-based skills that would enable Singaporean workers to generate
more high value-added outputs. This approach appealed to high-value firms and produced
numerous innovative retraining proposals. By adopting these types of approaches,Thailand could enhance on-the-job training opportunities for Thai workers that centeredaround high value-added work.

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THE FUTURE OF WORK ACROSS ASEANSTRUCTURAL REFORMS THAT PROMOTEMORE INNOVATIVE ECONOMIESIn 2014, MDES launched the Thailand Digital Economy and Society Plan aimed attransforming the nation into a digitized community. This plan also falls under alignment
with the government’s 20-year plan. The plan laid out by MDES sets a number of ambitious
targets for building country-wide high-capacity digital infrastructure; boosting the
economy through the use of digital technology; creating a “knowledge-driven digitalsociety”; digitizing government services and processes; developing a workforce for thedigital era; and building trust and confidence in the use of digital technology. The goal of
the plan is to make Thailand’s digital landscape competitive with other ASEAN countries,
which are currently ahead in many metrics, including mobile penetration, smartphoneownership, and 4G rollout.188 By 2027, the government hopes the digital economy willcontribute a quarter of Thailand’s GDP.
Thailand boasts a relatively vibrant startup ecosystem and is home to a number ofinnovative and successful companies. Funding for these startups comes from both foreign
investment funds and domestic sources. The Mountain View-based venture capital firm
500 Startups, which operates in Thailand as 500 TukTuks, invested US$15.4 million inits first phase and is targeting US$20 million for its second fund.189 Startup accelerator
programs, which help early-stage startups make connections, get investment, and scale
up, are mushrooming in Bangkok and Chiangmai.190 In 2018, the deputy prime minister,
Somkid Jatusripitak, ordered the Board of Investment to spend 10 billion baht on Thaistartups, and state-owned banks and agencies are also promising support.191

policy to energize entrepreneurs for the future innovation-““

Accelerating and creating more startups is a core government
based economy and to drive Thailand’s economic growth in
the long run.

Somkid Jatusripitak, Deputy Prime Minister192

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The Path Forward
While Thailand’s startup scene shows many signs of vitality, more support beyond venture
capital funding and accelerator programs is needed to ensure continued, broad-based
growth and innovation. To multiply the number of successful Thai startups, the country
must nurture more students and researchers studying IT and business skills that match
those needed by the rapidly changing modern tech industry. This may require greater ormore targeted investment in education and research grants in STEM fields like computerscience.193
Global players can sometimes play a catalyzing role in technology transfer and training,and policymakers should explore such partnerships with the aim of cultivating innovation
within Thailand’s own borders. Examples of this are already starting to crop up. For
example, working with four global IT firms – Google, Microsoft, Cisco and Huawei – MDES
is designing the curricula for 84 courses that will provide up-skilling and re-skilling toworkers in tech-related industries. MDES is also joining forces with the Chonburi Chamberof Commerce to promote the use of digital technologies among Thai SMEs in the flagship
Eastern Economic Corridor project. Arrangements like these can help generate new
globally-recognized certifications for local workers.
Startup entrepreneurs are also sensitive to regulations on intellectual property protection,
taxation, foreign worker visas, stock ownership, and payment infrastructure.194
Policymakers should work with entrepreneurs and technologists to better grasp how toproperly regulate new industries and technologies. Regulatory sandboxes, such as those
set up by the Bank of Thailand to test fintech services, are one such way that public-private
collaboration can be encouraged and lead to innovation. Finally, data privacy legislation
can also have a strong effect on the readiness of both domestic and foreign parties toinvest in developing the Thai digital economy, as evidenced by the negative reactions tothe set of privacy and cyber-security bills passed in early 2019.195 Policy efforts to address
data privacy should also be done in consultation with the private sector with the goal of
creating a conducive environment for businesses and consumers alike.

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THE FUTURE OF WORK ACROSS ASEANCASE 7:VIETNAMTHE FUTURE OF WORK IN VIETNAM• Vietnam’s economy has transformed dramatically over the past three decades
and is currently a thriving, globally-connected middle-income country.
• The country’s exceptional education system outperforms comparable countries
in the region and even scores higher than the OECD country average.
• Yet the vast majority of Vietnamese workers (74%) are employed in low-skill jobs,
and youth unemployment is high. Many university graduates cannot find a jobthat uses their degree.
• Government responses to labor market trends are often constrained by lack ofdata, and policymakers often rely on personal networking rather than systematic
protocols to gain access to data. A recommitment to cross-ministerial working
groups and innovative public-private partnerships could uncover new streams ofdata for tracking labor force transformations.
• Vietnam’s educational system and growing network of TVET providers are evolving
to equip the country’s workforce for the demands of the future. One area for policy
action is to help TVET institutions and the private sector work together to establish
more enterprise-based training and apprenticeship programs.
• The government has begun to address the challenges of 4IR through a number of
initiatives, but they are not yet under one coordinated, concerted policy. One area
to address is the lack of digital standards, norms, and certifications. Policymakers
can also develop supportive policies to bring SMEs and their workforces up to
speed and succeed in a digital economy.
• The tech startup scenes in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Da Nang are flourishing andglobally well-regarded. Vietnam’s growing ecosystem of tech companies will play an
outsized role in shaping Vietnam’s future labor market and growth industries.
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Justin Mott/Getty Images for The Asia Foundation

Vietnam’s economy has transformed dramatically over the past three decades, risingfrom poverty to become a thriving, globally-connected middle-income country. Domestic
consumption and income growth remain high, while inflows from direct investment,
tourism, and trade have been strong, leading to broad-based growth and prosperity.196
Much of this growth has come through the movement of people from traditional
agriculture into newly-developing manufacturing and services industries, as well as
through increased mechanization and modernization in the agriculture sector itself.197
Migration out of rural areas, as well as the redesignation of many rural communes tourban wards, has raised Vietnam’s urbanization rate to nearly 40% (from just 20% in 1990),
and many rural and ethnic minority youth see migration as a way to improve their status,
learn new skills, and feel a sense of pride.
Vietnam has a strong educational system, one that outperforms comparable countries
in the region. A World Bank analysis of education systems in East Asia and the Pacific106

THE FUTURE OF WORK ACROSS ASEAN

ranked Vietnam among the top performers in the region. Vietnam’s education scoreeven exceeded the OECD average, a remarkable achievement given the country’s middle
income status and scarcer resources for education.198 By 2016, nearly 60% of 20-to-24year-old adults had completed secondary education, and two-thirds of 3-to-5-year-old
children were enrolled in pre-primary school.199 Youth literacy is nearly universal. However,educational attainment is not equally distributed, with notable gaps between rural andurban areas and Kinh ethnic people and minority populations. Youth unemployment
remains high, especially among university graduates. Those who cannot find a job thatuses their degree either assume positions in their field that are below their educational
level or seek employment outside their fields of study.
The Vietnamese government has announced that it will prioritize adapting its industries
and citizens to a digital future, but thus far, it has not yet released a national strategy
on 4IR, nor has it made significant progress in enacting specific policies or actions. The
government has issued a number of directives related to 4IR, including the Prime Minister’s
Directive No. 16, On strengthening the access to the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and theMinistry of Education and Training’s (MOET) Official Letter No. 1891 to all higher education
institutions to adapt the training of human resources to the needs of the Fourth Industrial
Revolution. Some government agencies have begun to implement their own e-government
initiatives, to varying degrees of success, but policy coordination is yet to be fully realized.
Among Vietnamese businesses and individuals, awareness of 4IR is high, but there is a
general sense of uncertainty as to how it will affect them or how to harness its potential.
A 2019 joint survey conducted by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) and UNDPof 2,659 industrial enterprises found that 85% of respondents had not done anything or
had done very little to prepare for 4IR.200 Nearly four in five had no plans to implement
significant changes in the context of 4IR, including more than one-third who reported
not knowing how to respond. Even among larger corporations, the adoption of 4IR
technologies is uneven. Some major manufacturing companies, such as Vietnam National
Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex), have announced plans to further automate theirassembly lines, which could have a major impact on the job market.
Vietnam’s thriving economy, relatively high level of digital adoption, and high-performing
education system position it to respond well to technological disruption. However,policymakers have much work ahead of them to facilitate the country’s transformation toa digital economy, including reforming its legal and regulatory frameworks, encouraging
innovation, research, and start-up entrepreneurship, enhancing its TVET and overall
learning ecosystem, and improving its digital infrastructure.

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POLICY PARTNERSHIPS TO IMPROVELABOR MARKET DASHBOARDS
Currently, the Ministry of Information and Communication (MOIC) is preparing a proposal
on “National Digital Transformation,” which describes specific actions for updating andadvancing training programs, implementing lifelong learning, and minimizing brain
drain. But efforts to prepare the population for the future of work are constrained bylimited access to data. The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA), whichis responsible for most aspects of labor policy and technical and vocational training,
publishes a quarterly newsletter with updates and predictions on the labor market.201
This report relies on data that is provided to MoLISA by the General Statistics Office (GSO),
and stakeholder interviews indicate that this data is not updated frequently enough.
For example, at the end of Q2 of 2019, the most recent data available from the GSO was
published in Q2 of 2018.202
While the GSO is mandated to share data with other ministries and departments, themechanism for sharing is not clear, forcing policymakers to rely on personal networking
to access datasets. Additionally, its data collection methodology itself may be flawed, as
questionnaires are given to the heads of villages to be filled in themselves. When input
data is not accurate, the validity of all subsequent analyses and predictions based on thatdata is jeopardized.
Official forums are one means by which policymakers gain access to market intelligence,
though not necessarily empirical data. For example, in August 2019, MoLISA organized a
National Forum on Innovation and Improving the Quality of TVET, where more than 1,000
enterprises, including the 500 largest enterprises in Vietnam, were expected to attend.
The forum provided a venue in which MoLISA and other agencies could interact withcompanies and listen to their needs. At the recently organized Private Sector Economic
Forum, which the Prime Minister and other Ministers of line ministries participated in,enterprises pointed out the gaps and challenges in current policies and legal documents.
Policymakers also often rely on private-sector or non-governmental data when official
government datasets are incomplete or hard to acquire. In interviews for this report,
representatives described referring to data from Navigos of Google, a recruitment and jobsearch platform, which some find more accurate than official data.
For now, much remains unclear about the impact of 4IR technologies on jobs in Vietnam’s
current growth centers. There is uncertainty, for example, in when and how the adoption
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The Asia Foundation/Karl Groblof robotics will affect the nature and number of jobs in the apparel industry, as there is still
not a machine that can replace the cut-make-trim sewing machine operators that employ
70% of garment workers. Presently, although labor costs are increasing in Vietnamese
garment factories, they evidently still pale relative to the cost of machinery.203 The dearthof reliable, timely, and accurate data makes the uncertainty all the greater and represents
a huge obstacle to policymakers planning for the future of work.

The Path Forward
Limited labor market data makes it hard for the government to plan for 4IR disruptions.
Data-sharing among government ministries happens largely on the basis of personal
relationships rather than systematic protocols, and the private sector is often loath toshare its own data with government entities. Activities like public-private sector forums
help increase policymakers’ awareness of the private sector’s workforce needs, but thesealone are hardly enough to guide policies affecting millions.
Policymakers must recommit to creating partnerships to ensure that there is sufficient datato track labor force transformations. Strategic cross-ministerial working groups and policy
co-creation workshops may help establish new avenues through which government datasiloed in one ministry can be accessed by another. Online job portals like Vietnamworks.
com, Careerlink.vn and Anphabe.com or global companies like Google and Facebook may be
more inclined to engage with government agencies in data sharing initiatives.

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ENHANCED CAPACITY TO DELIVER SKILLSTRAINING THAT FITS THE MARKET
Low-skill, elementary jobs are generally those at the highest risk of displacement throughautomation. Unfortunately, these roles make up nearly 74% of jobs in Vietnam, and those
who have only completed primary school are three times more likely to be in a highrisk occupation.204 In the near term, Vietnam may well be able to retain its position in
global value chains through continuing low-skill, low-value-added assembly work, but
this is highly reliant on global and regional trends as well as the ability of Vietnamesepolicymakers and workers to adapt to changing demands.205 In the long term, Vietnam mustequip its workforce with the skills and training that are demanded by the adoption of newtechnologies.

“

Trained employees in Vietnam only account for 60% of thetotal labor force, in which only 21% received certificate andthe length of training is three months or more. Therefore,
when entering the industrial revolution 4.0, the labor force
faces major challenges. The government must be responsible
for guiding and identifying high-skilled human resources in
response to the 4.0 movement. Enterprises, organizations, andindividuals must do their own research in order to prepare“

human resources, investment, and support employees inaccessing new science and technology.

Bui Sy Loi, Dep. Director of the National Assembly Committee forSocial Affairs206

The potential risks of displacement are compounded for Vietnam’s millions of internalmigrant workers, who upon losing their jobs tend to return to their home villages in rural
areas, where their aging parents may still be taking care of small farms using traditional,
non-mechanized methods. These farms face declining productivity compared to more
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modern and efficient operations, as well as the threat of destruction due to climate risks
such as floods, droughts, and disease. Although there are growing opportunities in offfarm labor, older relatives may not be willing to opt for non-farming livelihood strategies
and may discourage young people from pursuing other livelihood opportunities.207 Young
women in the role of daughter-in-law may be further marginalized through lack of accessto household financial resources.
Despite the challenges, returning migrants also bring with them savings and valuable
experience from working and living in the city. Many returned migrants are opening
and operating service business that contribute to the continued urbanization of thecountryside and of peri-urban areas. Others see opportunities to modernize rural
agriculture through mechanization and the use of new technologies to manage farms,
improve produce quality, and sell for better prices. These success stories – made possible
in large part by the educational, commercial, and networking resources available on theinternet – are important to highlight.

““

A smart labor force plus creativity would serve as driving forces
for economic development amid Industry 4.0.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc at Vietnam ICT Summit 2018211

The Vietnamese TVET system has the broad task of training Vietnam’s labor force – nosmall responsibility, given that 85% of Vietnam’s employed workers “have not been
trained to achieve any level of qualifications.”208 Worse, that trend is exacerbated along
gender and rural-urban lines. The TVET system is in fact a large network of institutions
administered by a wide range of organizations, from MoLISA and line ministries, down toprovincial, city, and district governments. Run by the Directorate for Vocational Education
and Training (DVET), TVET in Vietnam has seen significant improvements in recent decades,
alongside a rise in the number of training institutions from 312 in 2001 to 1,347 in 2010,
and a corresponding increase in enrollment.209 An ADB assessment cited among the TVET
system’s improvements a strengthened legal and policy framework, greater flexibility(with the addition of vocational training at the college level), and higher quality of training,based on parameters such as skills standards, curriculum frameworks, and pilot learnerassessments.210
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Despite these developments, many institutional weaknesses still remain that impair
the TVET system’s ability to prepare Vietnam’s workers for the future of work. Probably
the most critical of these is insufficient on-the-job training and apprenticeship
opportunities. The advantage of enterprise-based training (EBT) is that, unlike TVET
curricula, which are often not aligned with the skills demanded by the private sector, EBT
is closely linked to the needs of the enterprise and is thus, by definition, responsive tomarket demands. In addition, EBT allows for continuous learning and adaptation to newtechnologies. Part of the reason for the lack of this type of training delivery mechanismis that collaboration between policymakers, TVET institutions, and the private sector has
been weak, inhibiting the understanding for the need for such training in the first place.
Policymakers have also inadequately addressed the disincentive businesses perceieve
about the risk of training their workers at their own expense, only to see those workers
leave for other employment opportunities. Finally, many businesses – particularly
SMEs, which represent the majority of employers in Vietnam – simply do not have theresources to afford on-the-job training.
Some companies are taking matters into their own hands in order to implement theirown upskilling programs. One example is Vinfast, Vietnam’s first major automotive
manufacturer and a subsidiary of the Vingroup conglomerate. In an attempt to leapfrog
older manufacturers, Vinfast is starting out by investing aggressively in building highly
automated facilities, including a welding plant equipped with 1,200 robots that run onnights and on weekends.212 While the initial equipment and technical expertise comesfrom European companies, Vinfast has established its own vocational training centerin Haiphong city that will teach mechatronics and industrial mechanics to Vietnamesestudents. Upon completing the program, students receive a certification based on German
standards, enabling them to work at the Vinfast factory or at more than 50,000 German
companies worldwide.213
While private sector-led reskilling and training programs can be effective, the main issue
is whether they are transferable or sustainable. Many companies provide training onan ad-hoc or hyper-local basis, often under an agreement with local authorities. For big
companies, production facilities are sometimes moved to take advantage of preferential
taxes in one zone or another, leaving its labor force behind. Smaller companies mightcooperate with their local authorities to train current or potential employees, but not in an
organized or broadly aligned way.

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The Asia Foundation/Karl Grobl

The Path Forward
Policymakers should start with Vietnam’s existing institutions to explore ways to offer
enhanced upskilling resources to its labor force. Its impressive educational system and its
growing network of TVET providers have the potential to equip current and future workers
even more effectively for the future, but policymakers need to work together, as well as
in concert with the private sector, to enhance these resources. For example, improved
coordination between MoLISA (which coordinates TVET implementation) and the Ministryof Planning and Investment (MPI) and Ministry of Finance (MoF) (which have considerable
financial and decision-making power) may facilitate the allocation of funds towards moreurgently needed training courses.
The government should also work on a number of fronts to immediately ramp up
the availability and accessibility of on-the-job training programs and ensure thatthese opportunities are extended to rural areas and female workers. But first, thegovernment must convince the private sector of the advantages of EBT. The link between
worker training and increased net profits is not necessarily clear to employers, andthe responsibility lies with the public sector to promote businesses’ understanding.
Policymakers must also increase awareness, especially among SMEs, of programs
and incentives offered by the government to support apprenticeship training. Finally,
policymakers must work together with TVET institutions and businesses to establish onthe-job training programs and apprenticeships that produce high-skilled, action-oriented
workers who are equipped to handle the needs of the market.

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STRUCTURAL REFORMS THAT PROMOTEMORE INNOVATIVE ECONOMIES
While Vietnam has a very digitally-connected and digitally-literate populace, the adoptionof 4IR technologies in industry is still in the early stages and not fully embraced, especiallyby SMEs. Among larger corporations, adoption of 4IR technologies is uneven. Some major
manufacturing companies, such as Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex),
have announced plans to further automate their assembly lines, which could have a major
impact on the job market. Vinatex said it would expand investment in smart factories,
placing priority on activities which can be replaced by robots.214

Vietnam to join the frontiers of Industry 4.0. ‘Made in Vietnam’““Investing in research and development will be critical forshould be replaced with ‘Researched and Developed in
Vietnam’.

Ousmane Dione, Country Director for Vietnam, World Bank215

The use of data science and sensor technologies is picking up in the agriculture sector,
whether in the form of cell phone apps to monitor weather conditions for farmers in the
Mekong Delta or to track massive industrial supply chains.216 Vingroup, which is Vietnam’s
biggest privately-owned company, uses big data and other agricultural technologies from
Israel, Japan, and the Netherlands in its projects. Major domestic technology corporations
such as FPT, Vingroup, and VNPT have begun initiatives in researching and applying AI andblockchain. The recent application of blockchain technology to some agricultural export
products like mangos and dragonfruit has brought high value and positive branding for
Vietnamese agricultural products.217 Development of the agro-food value chain has thepotential to improve the income for women-led businesses, as well as migrant workers,
many of whom may weigh the option of returning to work on their family farms.

114

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Beyond government and big industry, much of the technology innovation occurring in
Vietnam is driven by startups and young software developers. Based in hubs like Hanoi,
Da Nang, and Ho Chi Minh City, these young people are generating impactful new ideas
and bringing in investment from new sources. For example, Abivin, a Hanoi-based startup
founded in 2015, recently won the Start-up World Cup in San Francisco, earning global
recognition and a US$1 million prize.218 On the whole, Vietnam is increasingly recognized
as an innovative economy with a high level of market sophistication and knowledge andtechnology output. Indeed, it was ranked the top innovative economy among all lowermiddle income countries in the latest Global Innovation Index.219
Rising companies like Abivin will play an outsized role in shaping Vietnam’s future labormarket and growth industries, and major players in the public and private sectors areworking to spur along their development. For example, Google and the Ministry ofIndustry and Trade (MoIT) launched the Accelerate Vietnam Digital 4.0 program in 2018
to provide digital skills training for 500,000 employees of SMEs. The program is now
expanding to rural areas and includes a “Digital Bus” which is traveling to 59 cities andprovinces in suburban and remote areas to help small businesses access digital training.220

The Asia Foundation/Whitney Legge

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The Path Forward
Vietnam is poised for economic transformation, both in moving up global value chains
and in growing its digital and service economies. Its strong educational system produces
results that are on par with or even above OECD countries. It possesses a business climatethat encourages innovation and attracts FDI, and compared to other countries in theregion, Vietnam’s businesses are generally optimistic about the changes that 4IR will bring.
While there is still much uncertainty, a growing number of enterprises are beginning to
make strategic investments in digitization and automation that will reap benefits in the
coming years. The question of where to target policy initiatives to promote economic
resilience may thus be more a matter of refining existing initiatives.
One area to address is the lack of digital standards, norms, certifications, and lack ofclarity about regulations. This was identified as a top area of concern, with regards toembracing “Industry 4.0,” for respondents in a survey conducted by consulting firm PWC.221
Policymakers must address these gaps in Vietnam’s regulatory framework and work todevelop digital trust among domestic and international businesses and individuals.
Another area is to develop supportive policies specifically for SMEs, who represent thelion’s share of Vietnam’s employers, yet whose workforce are the least likely to have theskills needed to transition to a digital economy. Policymakers must continue to encourage
public-private initiatives to bring SMEs up to speed. They can do this through skills-training
initiatives like Google and the MoIT’s Digital 4.0 program. They can also target incentive
programs towards SMEs, who frequently lack the financial resources to invest in newtechnologies and upskill their employees.

The Asia Foundation/Leandro Justen

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Our Thanks to the Contributors
The authors of this paper would like to thank the following individuals and organizations for sharing theirexpertise and experience:
Cambodia: National Institute of Posts Telecommunications and Information Communication Technology;
Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications of Cambodia; Federation of Associations for Small and Medium
Enterprises (SME) of Cambodia; Ministry of Planning; National Employment Agency (NEA), under the
Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training; Passerelles Numériques Cambodia; Smart Axiata Company
Limited.
Indonesia: Totok Suprayitno, Head of Research and Development, Ministry of Education and Culture; Hari
Sungkari, Deputy of Infrastructure, Indonesia Creative Economy (Bekraf) and Member of the National ICT
Board (WANTIKNAS) Implementation Team; Anang Latif, Head of Telecommunication and Information
Accessibility Agency, Ministry of Communication and Information (BAKTI-Kominfo); Sanny Gaddafi, Founder/
CEO PT 8Villages Indonesia; Wilda Romadona, Head of RegoPantes
Malaysia: Human Resource Development Fund (HRDF); Mr Devasharma Gangadaran, Chief Executive
Officer, MySkills Foundation; Mr. S. T. Rubaneswaran, Chief Executive Officer, KnowledgeCom Corporation
Sdn. Bhd.
Philippines: DTI, TESDA, Passerelles Numériques Philippines.
Singapore: Mr. Patrick Tay Teck Guan, Member of Parliament & Sr. Director of Strategy, National Trade
Union Congress; Ms. Christine Liu, CEO & Founder, StaffonDemand; Ms. Jasmine Tang, CEO & Founder,
Empire Code.
Thailand: Mr. Arin Jira, Vice Chairman, Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) and Chairman of ASEAN Business
Advisory Council in 2019; Dr. Katiya Greigarn, formerly head of Industry 4.0 group at FTI and Managing
Director, KV Electronics Co. Ltd.; Dr. Tinsiri Siribodhi, former Deputy Secretary General, Teachers’ Councilof Thailand; Ms. Sara Elder, Head, Regional Economic & Social Analysis Unit, ILO Regional Office in
Bangkok; Ms. Makiko Matsumoto, Employment Specialist, ILO Regional Office in Bangkok; Dr. Nuttapon
Nimmanphatcharin, President/CEO, Digital Economy Promotion Agency (DEPA), Ministry of DIgital Economy
and Society (MDES); Dr. Ratthasart Korrasud, Senior Executive Vice President/COO, DEPA, MDES; Dr.
Orachat Leingpeboon, Vice President, Digital Manpower Development & Promotion Dept., DEPA, MDES;
Mr. Somyod Lertsumitkul, Managing Director, Srithai Stainless Co. Ltd.; Dr. Yongyuth Chalamwong,
Research Director, Human Resources Policy, Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI); Dr. Saowaruj
Rattanakhamfu, Senior Research Fellow, Competitiveness Policy, TDRI; Mr. Prateep Songlumyorng, Deputy
Director General, Department of Skill Development, Ministry of Labor; Mr. Sandod Themsawaanglert,
Senior Expert on Skill Development, Department of Skill Development, Ministry of Labor; Mr. Weerasak
Ladakom, Senior Expert on Skill Development, Ministry of Labor; Ms. Prommongkol Wongboonfoo, Directorof International Cooperation Division, Department of Skill Development, Ministry of Labor; Ms. Noppamart
Chuainukool, Director of Macro Industrial Policy, Office of Industrial Economics, Ministry of Industry; Ms.
Nattaya Sookkasem, Senior Plan & Policy Analyst, Office of Industrial Economics, Ministry of Industry.
Vietnam: Mr. Vu Ho, DG ASEAN Department, MOFA; Ms. Võ Hoàng Thùy Trang, General Manager,
Passerelles Numériques Vietnam; Ms. Trần Thanh Tâm, Deputy Director, Small and Medium Enterprise
Promotion Center, Vietnam Chamber of Commerce & Industry (VCCI); Ms Phạm Thị Thanh Tâm, Director of
REACH; Mr. Phạm Xuân Thu, Mr. Đào Trọng Độ, Mr. Nguyễn Đức Hỗ, Ms. Nguyễn Thị Mai Hường, and Ms.
Hồng, Institute of Vocational Education Studies, Directorate of Vocational Education and Training, MoLISA;
Mr. Ha Hai An, DG International Economics and Integration Department, and Mr Dung, Central Economic
Commission (CEC), Vietnam Communist Party Central Committee; Mr Tuan Tu, Mr Le Nhat Minh, Mr. Hoang
Anh, and Ms. Mai, Department of Employment, MOLISA; Mr Phan Hồng Minh, CEO, JupViec; Ms. Nguyễn
Thúy Anh, Head of Research and Application of Digital Economy, Vietnam E-Commerce and Information
Technology Agency, Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT); Ms. Hà Thị Minh Đức, Deputy Director General,
Department of International Cooperation, MoLISA.
ASEAN: ASEAN Secretariat; ASEAN Foundation.
Regional: Mr Lars Jeppesen, Tech One Global; Dr. Seenivasagam Neethi, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)
We also thank the others from industry and government who related their expertise with the research team
but who did not wish to include their names or the names of their organizations.

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Kylasapathy, P., Hwa, T. B., & Zukki, A. H. M. (2018). Unlocking Malaysia’s Digital Future: Opportunities,
Challenges and Policy Responses. Bank Negara Malaysia Annual Report 2017.
“Industry 4.0 is expected to have far reaching impact across industries, societies and the broader economy.
Thus, it is not a domain of any one Government department or agency. Governance for such initiatives
should be initiated at the top most level in the country, with emphasis on strong cross-ministerial and agency
collaboration.” (Industry4WRD National Policy on Industry 4.0, p. 19).
“Critical Occupations List - Initiatives.” TalentCorp Malaysia, www.talentcorp.com.my/initiatives/criticaloccupations-list.
Anis, Mazwin, and Joseph Kaos Jr. . “Dr M Urges Major Industry Players to Support TVET.” The Star [Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia], 9 July 2019, www.msn.com/en-my/news/national/dr-m-urges-major-industry-players-tosupport-tvet/ar-AAE2VU4.

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85

(2019, June 11). NST Leader: TVET - Big room for improvement. New Straits Times. Retrieved from https://www.
nst.com.my/opinion/leaders/2019/06/495299/nst-leader-tvet-big-room-improvement.
86 Secretary General Ministry of Economic Affairs Malaysia. Mid-Term Review – Eleventh Malaysia Plan 20162020: New Priorities and Emphases. Percetakan Nasional Malaysia Berhad, 2018, www.talentcorp.com.my/
clients/TalentCorp_2016_7A6571AE-D9D0-4175-B35D-99EC514F2D24/contentms/img/publication/MidTerm%20Review%20of%2011th%20Malaysia%20Plan.pdf.
87 Boo Cheng Hao. (2018, July 22). From TVET in Industry 4.0 to reshaping of our perception of education.
Malaysiakini. Retrieved from https://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/435396
88 YB Lim Guan Eng. “Speech: Unlocking The Potential of The Digital Economy.” Ministry of Finance Malaysia,
Ministry of Finance Malaysia, 12 Apr. 2019, www.treasury.gov.my/index.php/en/gallery-activities/speech/
item/5105-speech-unlocking-the-potential-of-the-digital-economy.html.
89 Kylasapathy, P., Hwa, T. B., & Zukki, A. H. M. (2018). Unlocking Malaysia’s Digital Future: Opportunities,
Challenges and Policy Responses. Bank Negara Malaysia Annual Report 2017.
90 YB Lim Guan Eng. “Speech: Unlocking The Potential of The Digital Economy.” Ministry of Finance Malaysia,
Ministry of Finance Malaysia, 12 Apr. 2019, www.treasury.gov.my/index.php/en/gallery-activities/speech/
item/5105-speech-unlocking-the-potential-of-the-digital-economy.html.
91 Abudheen, Sainul. “Malaysia Has All Ingredients to Be a Startup Hub, but Lacks ‘Michelin Star Chefs’ to Mix
Them Well: Ashran Ghazi.” E27, Optimatic Pte Ltd., 21 Jan. 2019, e27.co/malaysian-has-all-ingredients-to-be-astartup-hub-but-lacks-michelin-star-chefs-to-mix-them-well-ashran-ghazi-20190121.
92 Fong, Terry, and Zubair Hassan. Factors Contributing Brain Drain in Malaysia. Vol. 2, IJELT, 2017, www.ftms.edu.
my/journals/pdf/IJELT/Nov2017/14-31.pdf.
93 Maulia, Erwida. “Southeast Asian ‘turtles’ Return Home to Hatch Tech Startups.” Nikkei Asian Review, Nikkei
Inc., 22 May 2019, asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Cover-Story/Southeast-Asian-turtles-return-home-to-hatch-techstartups.
94 ILO. Decent Work Country Diagnostics: Philippines 2017. International Labour Organization Country Office for
the Philippines, 2017, www.ilo.org/manila/publications/WCMS_588875/lang--en/index.htm.
95 Ibid.
96 Ibid.
97 Ibid.
98 Ibid.
99 Philippines Statistics Authority. Latest Report from Survey on Overseas Filipinos (SOF) April 30, 2019 [Online.]
https://psa.gov.ph/content/total-number-ofws-estimated-23-million-results-2018-survey-overseas-filipinos
100 The World Bank. Data: Personal Remittances (%of GDP) [Online.] 2019. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/
BX.TRF.PWKR.DT.GD.ZS (Accessed 26 June 2019)
101 Chang, Jae-Hee, and Phu Huynh. The Future of Jobs at Risk of Automation. International Labour Office Bureau
for Employers Activities Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, 2016, www.ilo.org/actemp/publications/
WCMS_579554/lang--en/index.htm.
102 “ASEAN 4.0: A Region in Transition.” Economist Intelligence Unit, The Economist Group, 28 Nov. 2018, country.
eiu.com/article.aspx?articleid=707397654.
103 Ibid.
104 Chang, Jae-Hee, and Phu Huynh. The Future of Jobs at Risk of Automation. International Labour Office Bureau
for Employers Activities Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, 2016, www.ilo.org/actemp/publications/
WCMS_579554/lang--en/index.htm.
105 Ibid.
106 “TESDA Is Now Under DTI.” TurfSite Manila, 2 Nov. 2018, www.turfsitemanila.com/tesda-is-now-under-dti.
107 Technical Education and Skills Development Authority . Technological Change Is Coming: The Fourth Industrial
Revolution. Planning Office, 2016, www.tesda.gov.ph/Uploads/File/planning2017/LMIR/4th%20IR%20
LMIR%20January%203%20FULL.pdf.
108 Montemayor, Teresa. “DepEd, TESDA Ink Pact to Enhance Tech-Voc Education.” Philippine News Agency, 9 July
2019, www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1074481.
109 IBPAP. The Philippine IT-BPM Sector Roadmap 2022. IBPAP, 2019, boi.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/
Executive-Summary-Accelerate-PH-Future-Ready-Roadmap-2022_with-corrections.pdf.

122

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110 Orozco, Linda. “ASEAN in Transformation: How Technology is Changing Jobs and Enterprises | The Philippines
Country Brief.” International Labor Organization, June 2017, https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/--asia/---ro-bangkok/---ilo-manila/documents/publication/wcms_590071.pdf.
111 Francisco, Jamil Paolo et al. “Mapping Philippine Workers at Risk of Automation in the Fourth Industrial
Revolution.” Asian Institute of Management, April 5, 2019, https://ssrn.com/abstract=3366809 or http://dx.doi.
org/10.2139/ssrn.3366809.
112 ILO. Decent Work Country Diagnostics: Philippines 2017. International Labour Organization Country Office for
the Philippines, 2017, www.ilo.org/manila/publications/WCMS_588875/lang--en/index.htm.
113 Interview with Passerelles Numériques Cambodia, 2019.
114 “Country Profile: Philippines.” World Development Indicators Database, World Bank
Databank, 2018, databank.worldbank.org/views/reports/reportwidget.aspx?Report_
Name=CountryProfile&Id=b450fd57&tbar=y&dd=y&inf=n&zm=n&country=PHL.
115 Interview with Dominique Rubia-Tutay, Director of the Bureau of Local Employment, Department of Labor and
Employment, Republic of the Philippines (2019).
116 Interview with Dominique Rubia-Tutay, Director of the Bureau of Local Employment, Department of Labor and
Employment, Republic of the Philippines (2019).
117 Interview with Dominique Rubia-Tutay, Director of the Bureau of Local Employment, Department of Labor and
Employment, Republic of the Philippines (2019).
118 Department of Labor and Employment. “COUNTRY STATEMENT of SECRETARY SILVESTRE H. BELLO III for the108th Session of the International Labor Conference.” Facebook, Facebook, 18 June 2018, www.facebook.com/
notes/department-of-labor-and-employment-dole/country-statement-of-secretary-silvestre-h-bello-iii-for-the108th-session-of-th/2057040864424426.
119 Montealegre, Krista. “Education Overhaul Seen Critical in Responding to Threat from AI, Automation |BusinessWorld.” Business World, 19 Oct. 2017, www.bworldonline.com/education-overhaul-seen-criticalresponding-threat-ai-automation.
120 “National Technical Education and Skills Development Plan (NTESDP) 2018-2022 - TESDA.” Technical Educationand Skills Development Plan, www.tesda.gov.ph/About/TESDA/47. Accessed 16 Oct. 2019.
121 “TESDA Recognizes Six TVIs, Awardees.” Baguio Midland Courier, www.baguiomidlandcourier.com.ph/life.
asp?mode=archives/2019/may/5-5-2019/life4-TESDA-recognizes-six-TVIs.txt. Accessed 16 Oct. 2019.
122 Lopez, Ramon. “Opening Remarks by Secretary Ramon M. Lopez Preparatory Meeting of ASEAN Economic
Ministers (AEM).” Department of Trade and Industry, www.dti.gov.ph/103-main-content/speeches. Accessed 16
Oct. 2019.
123 “Philippines Leapfrogs in Global Innovation Index 2019.” PTV News, 25 July 2019, ptvnews.ph/philippinesleapfrogs-in-global-innovation-index-2019.
124 “NPC Eyes Fully Digital PH by 2040.” National Privacy Commission, 19 Sept. 2018, www.privacy.gov.
ph/2018/09/npc-eyes-fully-digital-ph-by-2040.
125 Business Mirror . “PHL Trade Exec Sees Opportunities in ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution.’” Department of Tradeand Industry, 18 Aug. 2018, www.dti.gov.ph/embnews/12237-phl-trade-exec-sees-opportunities-in-fourthindustrial-revolution.
126 “ICT Regulatory Tracker 2018.” ITU, www.itu.int/net4/itu-d/irt. Accessed 16 Oct. 2019.
127 Kousa, Sofia. “How Manila Turned Around Its Startup Ecosystem.” Startup Genome, 17 June 2019,
startupgenome.com/blog/member-spotlight-manila-startup-ecosystem.
128 Tan, Zhixin. “What’s Holding Back the Philippines’ Startup Ecosystem?” KrASIA, 5 July 2019, kr-asia.com/whatsholding-back-the-philippines-startup-ecosystem.
129 Schwab, Klaus, editor. The Global Competitiveness Report 2018. World Economic Forum, 2018, reports.
weforum.org/global-competitiveness-report-2018.
130 Committee on the Future Economy. Report of the Committee on the Future Economy: Pioneers of the Next
Generation. Government of Singapore, 2017, www.mti.gov.sg/-/media/MTI/Resources/Publications/Report-ofthe-Committee-on-the-Future-Economy/CFE_Full-Report.pdf.
131 Lew, Ann-Marie, et al. The NUS Future-Ready Report 2017. National University of Singapore, 2017, nus.edu.sg/
cfg/sites/default/files/documents/frr2017.pdf.
132 Tjioe, Mooris. “Report on the Workshop on Human Capital Challenges and the Future Economy.” IPS Update,
Dec. 2017, https://lkyspp.nus.edu.sg/docs/default-source/news-documents/ENews_Report-on-HumanCapital-Workshop_151217.pdf

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133 Interview with Ms. Jasmine Tang, CEO & Founder, Empire Code. 2019.
134 Lee, Justina. “Singapore Faces Biggest Reskilling Challenge in Southeast Asia.” Nikkei Asian Review, 4 Dec. 2018,
asia.nikkei.com/Economy/Singapore-faces-biggest-reskilling-challenge-in-Southeast-Asia.
135 Lee, King Fuei. “Automation, Computerization and Future Employment in Singapore.” Journal of Southeast
Asian Economies, vol. 34, no. 2, 2017, pp. 388–99, muse.jhu.edu/article/667759/pdf.
136 Ibid.
137 Maynard. “SG E-Commerce to Soar by at Least Half to $9.98bil in 2022.” The Independent [Singapore], 3 Feb.
2019, theindependent.sg/sg-e-commerce-to-soar-by-at-least-half-to-9-98bil-in-2022.
138 Chang, Jae-Hee, and Phu Huynh. “ASEAN in Transformation: The Future of Jobs at Risk of Automation.”International Labor Organization, July 2016, www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_dialogue/---act_emp/
documents/publication/wcms_579554.pdf.
139 “Members of The Future Economy Council.” Future Economy, www.futureeconomy.sg/about/thttps://blog.smu.
edu.sg/academic/integration-key-conquering-industry-disruptions-in-singaporehe-future-economy-council.
140 The SMU Social Media Team. “Integration Is Key to Conquering Industry Disruptions in Singapore.” The SMU
Blog, 1 Mar. 2018, blog.smu.edu.sg/academic/integration-key-conquering-industry-disruptions-in-singapore.
141 Lago, Cristina, and Charlotte Trueman. “How Singapore Is Using Artificial Intelligence.” CIO, IDG
Communications, 12 Mar. 2019, www.cio.com/article/3292616/how-singapore-is-using-artificial-intelligence.
html.
142 “Labour Movement: Future Jobs, Skills and Training.” National Trade Union Congress (NTUC), 3 Jan. 2019, www.
ntuc.org.sg/fjst.
143 “The 7 Strategies.” Future Economy, www.futureeconomy.sg/about/the-seven-strategies. Accessed 11 Oct.
2019.
144 Tjioe, Mooris. “Report on the Workshop on Human Capital Challenges and the Future Economy.” IPS Update,
Dec. 2017, https://lkyspp.nus.edu.sg/docs/default-source/news-documents/ENews_Report-on-HumanCapital-Workshop_151217.pdf
145 Tham, Yuen-C, and Joanna Seow. “Work in Progress: Redesigning Jobs, Retooling Mindsets, Singapore.” The
Straits Times, 12 Feb. 2018, www.straitstimes.com/singapore/redesigning-jobs-retooling-mindsets.
146 World Economic Forum. The Global Gender Gap Report: 2017. World Economic Forum, 2017, www3.weforum.
org/docs/WEF_GGGR_2017.pdf.
147 Interviews with Mr. Patrick Tay Teck Guan, Member of Parliament & Sr. Director of Strategy, National Trade
Union Congress; Ms. Christine Liu, CEO & Founder, StaffonDemand; Ms. Jasmine Tang, CEO & Founder, Empire
Code. 2019.
148 “Girls in Tech Singapore | Women. Technology. Entrepreneurship.” Girls in Tech Singapore, singapore.girlsintech.
org. Accessed 31 Oct. 2019.
149 “Girls in Tech Singapore | Women. Technology. Entrepreneurship.” Girls in Tech Singapore, singapore.girlsintech.
org. Accessed 31 Oct. 2019.
150 “FAQS – Attach and Train Programme (AnT).” SkillsFuture, 28 Feb. 2017, www.wsg.gov.sg/content/dam/ssgwsg/wsg/programmes/pcp/AnT_FAQs_28022017_EPD_v01final.pdf.
151 “SkillsFuture Work-Study Post-Diploma.” SkillsFuture, www.skillsfuture.sg/wspostdip.
152 “Singapore Topples United States as World’s Most Competitive Economy.” IMD, 28 May 2019, www.imd.org/
news/updates/singapore-topples-united-states-as-worlds-most-competitive-economy.
153 Organization, World, and University. Global Innovation Index 2019: Creating Healthy Lives — The Future of
Medical Innovation. World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), 2019, www.wipo.int/edocs/pubdocs/en/
wipo_pub_gii_2019.pdf.
154 “Singapore GII 2019 Rank.” Global Innovation Index, Mar. 2019, www.wipo.int/edocs/pubdocs/en/wipo_pub_
gii_2019/sg.pdf.
155 “PM Lee Hsien Loong at the 27th World Economic Forum on ASEAN in Hanoi, Vietnam.” Ministry ofForeign Affairs, Singapore, 12 Sept. 2018, www.mfa.gov.sg/Newsroom/Press-Statements-Transcripts-andPhotos/2018/09/PM-WEF-on-ASEAN.
156 Lago, Cristina, and Charlotte Trueman. “How Singapore Is Driving the Development of Autonomous Vehicles.”CIO, 24 Jan. 2019, www.cio.com/article/3294207/how-singapore-is-driving-the-development-of-autonomousvehicles.html.
157 Kharpal, Arjun. “Singapore Aims to Finish Its Own Cryptocurrency Trial next Year.” CNBC, 26 Oct. 2017, www.
cnbc.com/2017/10/26/singapore-cryptocurrency-blockchain-trial.html.

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158 “Driving Forces Cards: 2035.” Centre for Strategic Futures, Singapore, www.csf.gov.sg/files/media-centre/
publications/csf-df-cards.pdf. Accessed 11 Oct. 2019.
159 Wong, Derek. “Singapore Leads Talks on Digital Economy Pact.” The Straight Times [Singapore], 17 May 2019,www.straitstimes.com/business/singapore-leads-talks-on-digital-economy-pact.
160 Global Innovation Index 2019. Cornell, INSEAD, WIPO, 2019, www.globalinnovationindex.org/userfiles/file/reportpdf/GII2019-keyfindings-Web.pdf.
161 Schwab, Klaus. The Global Competitiveness Report 2017–2018. World Economic Forum, 2017, www3.weforum.
org/docs/GCR2017-2018/05FullReport/TheGlobalCompetitivenessReport2017%E2%80%932018.pdf.
162 “Digital Society Index 2019.” Dentsu Aegis Network, Mar. 2019, www.dentsuaegisnetwork.com/reports/
dsi_2019#top.
163 Jones, Charlie, and Paitoon Pimdee. “Innovative Ideas: Thailand 4.0 and the Fourth Industrial Revolution.” AsianInternational Journal of Social Sciences, vol. 17, no. 1, 2017, pp. 4–35, doi:10.29139/aijss.20170101.
164 Wiriyapong, Nareerat. “The Road to 4IR.” Bangkok Post, 28 Jan. 2019, www.bangkokpost.com/
business/1619050/the-road-to-4ir.
165 World Economic Forum, and AT Kearney. Readiness for the Future of Production Report 2018. World Economic
Forum, 2018, www.weforum.org/reports/readiness-for-the-future-of-production-report-2018.
166 Chang, Jae-Hee, and Phu Huynh. The Future of Jobs at Risk of Automation. International Labour Office Bureau
for Employers Activities Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, 2016, www.ilo.org/actemp/publications/
WCMS_579554/lang--en/index.htm.
167 Bussi, Maurizio, and Sameer Khatiwada. “Thailand Must Invest in Its Workers.” Bangkok Post, 29 Mar. 2017,www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/1223068/thailand-must-invest-in-its-workers.
168 World Bank. 2016. Thailand economic monitor : aging society and economy - June 2016 (English). Washington,
D.C. : World Bank Group. http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/830261469638312246/Thailandeconomic-monitor-aging-society-and-economy-June-2016
169 Bukht, Rumana, and Richard Heeks. “Digital Economy Policy: The Case Example of Thailand.” Development
Implications of Digital Economies, 2018, diodeweb.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/thai-digital-economy-policydiode-paper1.pdf.
170 Mala, Dumrongkiat. “Thailand Threatens to Quit Pisa Test.” Bangkok Post, 22 June 2018, www.bangkokpost.
com/thailand/general/1489970/thailand-threatens-to-quit-pisa-test.
171 “Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research, and Innovation.” The Government Public Relations
Department, Foreign Office, The Government Public Relations Department, Office of the Prime Minister, 28 Apr.
2019, thailand.prd.go.th/ewt_news.php?nid=7861.
172 Tan, Wen Chuan. “How Thailand Is Using Big Data to Power the Government.” Tech in Asia, 18 Oct. 2018, www.
techinasia.com/thailand-big-data-government.
173 “Improved Regulatory Framework Supports ICT Development in Thailand.” Oxford Business Group,
oxfordbusinessgroup.com/overview/digital-backbone-improved-regulatory-framework-supports-newtechnologies-while-infrastructure-paves.
174 Sagarik, Danuvas, et al. “E-Government 4.0 in Thailand: The Role of Central Agencies.” Information Polity, vol.
23, no. 3, 2018, pp. 343–53, doi:10.3233/IP-180006.
175 Ibid.
176 Bukht, Rumana, and Richard Heeks. “Digital Economy Policy: The Case Example of Thailand.” Development
Implications of Digital Economies, 2018, diodeweb.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/thai-digital-economy-policydiode-paper1.pdf.
177 Sagarik, Danuvas, et al. “E-Government 4.0 in Thailand: The Role of Central Agencies.” Information Polity, vol.
23, no. 3, 2018, pp. 343–53, doi:10.3233/IP-180006.
178 Kiatsuranon, Kitti, and Opal Suwunnamek. “Determinants of Thai Information and Communication Technology
Organization Performance: A Structural Equation Model Analysis.” Kasetsart Journal of Social Sciences, 2017,
doi:10.1016/j.kjss.2017.08.004.
179 Ibid.
180 “Thailand Promoting Female STEM Education with UNESCO.” Royal Thai Embassy, Washington D.C., 7 Sept.
2017, thaiembdc.org/2017/09/07/thailand-promoting-female-stem-education-with-unesco.
181 Maxwell, Daniel. “Gang Wars: Tackling Thailand’s Vocational College Violence.” Asian Correspondent, 14 July
2015, asiancorrespondent.com/2015/07/gang-wars-tackling-thailands-vocational-college-violence.

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182 The Nation. “Student Tech Education Boosted to Prepare 4.0 Workforce.” The Nation Thailand, 10 August 2018,www.nationthailand.com/national/30351928.
183 Mala, Dumrongkiat. “Lack of Skilled Labour Threatens EEC.” Bangkok Post, 20 May 2019, www.bangkokpost.
com/business/1680704/lack-of-skilled-labour-threatens-eec.
184 “Home | Thai MOOC.” Thai MOOC, mooc.thaicyberu.go.th.
185 Theeraroungchaisri, Anuchai, and Jintavee Khlaisang. “Thai MOOC Sustainability: Alternative Credentials for
Digital Age Learners.” EMOOCs-WIP. 2019.
186 “Ministry of Labour Drives AHRDA to Support Workforce Supply.” Ministry of Labour, 3 Mar. 2017, www.mol.
go.th/en/content/57897/1489208408
187 Ibid.
188 Bukht, Rumana, and Richard Heeks. “Digital Economy Policy: The Case Example of Thailand.” Development
Implications of Digital Economies, 2018, diodeweb.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/thai-digital-economy-policydiode-paper1.pdf.
189 Rowley, Jason D. “As Thai Startups Rise, 500 TukTuks Targets $20 Million For Second Fund.” Crunchbase News,
14 June 2018, news.crunchbase.com/news/as-thai-startups-rise-500-tuktuks-targets-20-million-for-secondfund.
190 “Accelerators Taking Thai Startups to the next Level.” Techsauce, 10 Oct. 2018, techsauce.co/en/featuredarticle-en/accelerators-taking-thai-startups-to-the-next-level.
191 Leecha-Nguansuk, Suchit. “Somkid Orders B10bn Spent on Startup Fund.” Bangkok Post, 18 May 2018, www.
bangkokpost.com/business/1467566/somkid-orders-b10bn-spent-on-startup-fund.
192 Leecha-Nguansuk, Suchit. “Somkid Orders B10bn Spent on Startup Fund.” Bangkok Post, 18 May 2018, www.
bangkokpost.com/business/1467566/somkid-orders-b10bn-spent-on-startup-fund.
193 Sermsuksan, Casper. “Can Thailand Grow a Startup Ecosystem?” SEA Turtles, 12 July 2019, seaturtles.co/canthailand-grow-a-startup-ecosystem.
194 Ibid.
195 “Digital Dampener: Thailand’s Sweep of Technology Legislation.” Economist Intelligence Unit, The Economist
Group, 28 Feb. 2019, country.eiu.com/article.aspx?articleid=1447695528.
196 International Monetary Fund Asia and Pacific Dept. Vietnam : 2019 Article IV Consultation; Press Release;
Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Vietnam. International Monetary Fund, 2019, www.
imf.org/en/Publications/CR/Issues/2019/07/16/Vietnam-2019-Article-IV-Consultation-Press-Release-StaffReport-and-Statement-by-the-47124.
197 Eckardt, Sebastian, et al. Vietnam - Systematic Country Diagnostic. World Bank Group, 2016, documents.
worldbank.org/curated/en/334491474293198764/Vietnam-Systematic-Country-Diagnostic.
198 World Bank. Growing Smarter: Learning and Equitable Development in East Asia and Pacific.
World Bank, 2018, openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/29365/211261ov.
pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y.
199 Pimhidzai, Obert. Climbing the Ladder : Poverty Reduction and Shared Prosperity in Vietnam. World Bank
Group, 2018, documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/206981522843253122/Climbing-the-ladder-povertyreduction-and-shared-prosperity-in-Vietnam.
200 Viet Nam Ministry of Industry and Trade and UNDP. “Industry 4.0 Readiness of Industry Enterprises inViet Nam.” UNDP, Feb. 2019, https://www.vn.undp.org/content/dam/vietnam/docs/Publications/Full%20
report%20on%20IR.0%20Readiness%20final%20Eng%208%20Jan%2019-formated.pdf.
201 “ILSSA Seminars.” Institute of Labour Science and Social Affairs, Ministry of Labour - Invalids and Social Affairs,
ilssa.org.vn/en/news/seminars-g133.
202 General Statistics Office. National Survey Report on Labour, Employment (as of Second Quarter of 2018).
General Statistics Office, 2018, www.gso.gov.vn/default.aspx?tabid=512&idmid=5&ItemID=18993.
203 Cunningham, Wendy, and Obert Pimhidzai. Vietnam’s Future Jobs : Leveraging Mega-Trends for Greater
Prosperity. World Bank Group, 2018, documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/670201533917679996/overview.
204 Chang, Jae-Hee, and Phu Huynh. The Future of Jobs at Risk of Automation. International Labour Office Bureau
for Employers Activities Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, 2016, www.ilo.org/actemp/publications/
WCMS_579554/lang--en/index.htm.
205 Cunningham, Wendy, and Obert Pimhidzai. Vietnam’s Future Jobs : Leveraging Mega-Trends for Greater
Prosperity. World Bank Group, 2018, documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/670201533917679996/overview.

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206 Hồng, Kiều. “Bàn Cách Phát Triển Giáo Dục Nghề Nghiệp Trong Bối Cảnh Cách Mạng 4.0.” Vietnam+,
10 May 2019, www.vietnamplus.vn/ban-cach-phat-trien-giao-duc-nghe-nghiep-trong-boi-canh-cachmang-40/568500.vnp.
207 Aus4Equality|GREAT. Study 3: Community, Socio-Cultural and Gender Assessment. CowaterSogema, 2018,equality.aus4vietnam.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/S3-Report-Assessement-and-Gender-Power-Relationanalyisis.pdf.
208 Asian Development Bank. Technical and Vocational Education and Training in the Socialist Republic of Viet
Nam: An Assessment. Asian Development Bank, 2014, www.adb.org/sites/default/files/publication/59724/
tvet-viet-nam-assessment.pdf.
209 Ibid.
210 Ibid.
211 “Vietnam’s Fourth Industrial Revolution Requires Govt Adaptation.” The Nation Thailand, 23 July 2018, www.
nationthailand.com/asean-plus/30350642.
212 Hương, Mai. “Harnessing Automation Requires Preparation for Work Disruption.” Việt Nam News, 9 Sept. 2018,
vietnamnews.vn/sunday/features/465148/harnessing-automation-requires-preparation-for-work-disruption.
html.
213 “VinFast Opens Technical Training Centre.” Việt Nam News, 8 Feb. 2018, vietnamnews.vn/economy/422706/
vinfast-opens-technical-training-centre.html.
214 Hương, Mai. “Harnessing Automation Requires Preparation for Work Disruption.” Việt Nam News, 9 Sept. 2018,
vietnamnews.vn/sunday/features/465148/harnessing-automation-requires-preparation-for-work-disruption.
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215 Dione, Ousmane. “Industry 4.0 – Harnessing Disruption for Vietnam’s Development.” World Bank, 13 July
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THE FUTURE OF WORK ACROSS ASEAN