IFC's Priorities in Manufacturing

Manufacturing sectors are major contributors to jobs, growth, and improving living standards. Beyond generating higher incomes through employment and productivity gains, advances in manufacturing help improve living standards through innovation and by keeping product prices low. Manufacturing is considered the entry point to the formal economy from the informal sector, absorbing large numbers of workers, many of them with limited skills.

Healthy manufacturers provide stable jobs and opportunities to acquire new skills, especially for women in many countries. Productivity tends to rise rapidly as industries adopt more advanced technologies, supporting sustained increases in wages.