Reaping the Benefits of Industry 4.0 through Skills Development in High-Growth Industries in Southeast Asia: Insights from Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Viet Nam

By Asian Development Bank

This synthesis report explores the implications of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) on the future of the job market in Southeast Asia. It is part of the series of reports that assesses how jobs, tasks, and skills are being transformed in industries with high relevance to 4IR technologies in Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Viet Nam. The series provides recommendations to strengthen policies, skills, and training as well as new approaches, strategies, and actions to enhance the readiness of each country’s workforce for 4IR.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Asian Development Bank
• Release date: Jan 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9789292624675

Book preview

REAPING THE BENEFITS OF INDUSTRY 4.0 THROUGH SKILLS DEVELOPMENT IN HIGH-GROWTH INDUSTRIES IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

INSIGHTS FROM CAMBODIA, INDONESIA, THE PHILIPPINES, AND VIET NAM

JANUARY 2021

Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 IGO license (CC BY 3.0 IGO)

© 2021 Asian Development Bank

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Some rights reserved. Published in 2021.

ISBN 978-92-9262-466-8 (print); 978-92-9262-467-5 (electronic); 978-92-9262-468-2 (ebook)

Publication Stock No. SPR200328

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.22617/SPR200328

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Notes:

In this publication, $ refers to United States dollars.

ADB recognizes China as the People’s Republic of China and 'Vietnam' as Viet Nam.

Cover design by Mike Cortes.

Contents

Table, Figures, and Boxes

Foreword

Talent and skills are valuable in powering knowledge-based economies. The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) has ushered in extraordinary technological advances, fusing boundaries of physical, digital, and biological worlds to create new paradigms in the way we live, work, and interact. These trends have heralded excitement and fear—excitement in advancing frontiers of human endeavor and fear of negative repercussions on jobs and rising inequalities.

To respond to questions and concerns in developing member countries of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on how their economies can transition effectively to 4IR, the study "Reaping the Benefits of Industry 4.0 Through Skills Development in High-Growth Industries in Southeast Asia" builds an evidence based on opportunities, challenges, and promising approaches in 4IR. It covers Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Viet Nam with specific focus on two industries in each country deemed important for growth, employment, and 4IR: tourism and garments in Cambodia, food and beverage manufacturing and automotive manufacturing in Indonesia, information technology and business process outsourcing and electronics in the Philippines, and agro-processing and logistics in Viet Nam.

Much has been written about anticipated loss of millions of jobs arising from automation. At ADB, we take a tempered view. The study reaffirms a positive outlook to 4IR creating new opportunities for quality jobs. While many jobs will indeed be lost as a result of automation, new jobs will emerge through the adoption of technologies that will increase worker productivity and competitiveness of nations, thereby leading to greater prosperity. However, tapping such benefits is predicated on increasing investments in skills development and greater efforts by companies to upskill their workforce to perform new and higher order roles in complementarity with machines.

Adoption of 4IR technologies can increase efficiency and productivity. They enable real-time tracking of supply chains for production and inventory management of raw materials and finished goods. Use of artificial intelligence and machine learning can provide insights into consumer behavior to customize production. Robotic process automation can relieve tedious and repetitive labor-intensive activities, allowing time for higher order functions. Augmented reality and virtual reality can be helpful to train workers in new tasks that they were not familiar with, or skilled in, earlier. Application of 4IR technologies helps developing countries move up the value chain in their products and services. Timely skills development can ensure that automation and artificial intelligence can benefit workers at large.

The study has resulted in a suite of country reports for Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Viet Nam, and a synthesis report that captures common elements across the four. They seek to provide policy makers with research and evidence-based solutions for skills and talent development to strengthen the countries’ readiness for a transition to 4IR.

The role of governments is crucial in ensuring equitable access to skills development. We