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Business News/ Politics / Policy/  Saving jobs from automation G-20’s big challenge: Shaktikanta Das

Saving jobs from automation G-20’s big challenge: Shaktikanta Das

Dealing with automation and artificial intelligence, which are fast replacing human workforce, critical for the jobs market worldwide, says India's G-20 sherpa Shaktikanta Das

Shaktikanta Das, India’s G-20 sherpa and member of the 15th Finance Commission. Photo: Ramesh Pathania/Mint

New Delhi: With artificial intelligence (AI) taking centre stage, one of the major concerns of G-20 countries is to curb job losses over the next few years, Shaktikanta Das, India’s G-20 sherpa and member of the 15th Finance Commission, said on Thursday.

“Today we are in a situation where more investment and more productivity do not lead to more jobs. AI and automation of processes is replacing human workforce. How to deal with the transition period for the next 3-5 years is very critical for the job market worldwide," Das said.

He was speaking at 50th SKOCH Summit in Delhi on Thursday.

Das, a former secretary of the department of economic affairs (DEA), was appointed India’s G-20 sherpa last month. He will serve until 31 December 2018.

Sherpas are representatives of leaders of G-20 member countries, and coordinate the agenda of summits.

Das said sherpas of G-20 countries had recently held their first meeting where they discussed various development issues. The focus was on digitization, how to reduce the digital divide among nations, within countries, between certain sections of society which are better placed and certain disadvantaged sections in terms of economic strata or sheer physical capacity, he added.

He said there was need for greater multilaterism, based on fair, equitable and practical principles to sustain global growth in the coming years. “India’s approach in this context has to be, and has been, to take care of its local interests, at the same time move forward to have a multilateral arrangement that is fair and equitable."

According to Das, the multilateral arrangements were not fair and practical. It has been more than fair to developed countries and not so fair to the under-developed countries.

“But today, when developed countries are facing the challenges such as slow growth, unemployment as faced by developing countries, then the pressure comes from developed countries to raise question mark over multilaterism," Das said.

G-20 and the pursuit of sustainable development goals (SDGs), World Trade Organization (WTO), multilateral institutions like World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF), and Financial Action Task Force (FATF) are the areas of multilateral arrangements that the country has, Das added.

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