PORT MORESBY, March 9, 2026: The World Bank Group is deepening its commitment to Pacific Island countries to strengthen their economies, accelerate job creation, and unlock private investment. A delegation of World Bank Group senior officials - World Bank Vice President for East Asia and the Pacific Felipe Jaramillo, IFC's Regional Vice President for Asia and the Pacific Sarvesh Suri, and World Bank Vice President for Operations Policy and Country Services Gallina Vincelette - visited Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Australia, and New Zealand to launch new strategic initiatives and engage with government and private sector partners.
In Goroka, the delegation joined Prime Minister Hon. James Marape to mark Papua New Guinea's National Agriculture Sector Plan 2024-2033, which aims to commercialize the sector and create one million jobs by 2033 as part of the World Bank Group's global AgriConnect initiative.
In Fiji, the delegation introduced the World Bank Group's new Small States Strategy, which addresses the structural vulnerabilities of small island economies through job creation, resilience, and private sector-led growth. It also announced an IFC partnership with Fiji's BRED Bank to help small and medium enterprises access finance and signed a Grant Facility for Project Preparation agreement to support the country's energy transformation.
In Vanua Levu, the delegation saw how the World Bank Group is strengthening tourism as a driver of jobs and growth, including upgrading the airports at Savusavu and Labasa.
In New Zealand and Australia, the delegation engaged business leaders and government counterparts on new procurement reforms that open opportunities for domestic and international firms to compete for World Bank-financed projects while enhancing local labor participation.
The World Bank Group's engagement in the Pacific reflects its overarching strategy of helping countries build economies that convert economic growth into local jobs-not by shifting work from developed countries, but by unlocking opportunity where people already live.
Jobs provide income, hope, and dignity, boosting global prosperity and stability. Over the next 10 to 15 years, 1.2 million young people in developing countries will reach working age, but only about 400 million jobs are expected to be created. To accelerate job creation at scale, the World Bank Group invests in the foundational physical and human infrastructure for jobs, supports a business-friendly environment, and mobilizes private capital. It focuses on five sectors with the greatest potential to create jobs: infrastructure and energy, agribusiness, primary healthcare, tourism, and value-added manufacturing.
