AsiaNews Magazine Jan10-16,2014 ( Jan 1-7,2014) | Page 16

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January 10-16, 2014

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Economic growth as a goal
in itself in Asia is also being
challenged on many fronts—
by the need for more equitable
sharing of benefits and by
environmental degradation
such as health-threatening air
pollution, natural disasters
and climate change.
One weakness is that the
Asian and the Pacific countries
do not have the practice of
thinking and working together
as one region. There are separate
sub-regional organisations
such as Asean (for SouthEast Asia), SAARC (for South
Asia) and the Pacific Forum.
But there isn’t an organisation
of the developing countries for
the whole region. Asean Plus
Three and the East Asia Summit
come nearest, but these are
informal gatherings and even
then they cover mainly East Asia.
By contrast, Africa has

the African Union with its
Commission that unites the
various sub-regions. In South
America, there is Unasur and
most recently, the emergence of
Celac (which groups together
South and Central America
plus the Caribbean countries).
Into the policy-making
vacuum for our region has
stepped Escap, the United
Nations Economic and
Social Commission for
BAY ISMOYO/AFP

his is the Asian century,
or so many books and
articles have proclaimed.
Many others around
the world often look at Asia
economically with some envy.
On the other hand, in the
wake of the global economic
slowdown, some Asian
countries are bracing themselves
for tough times ahead.
They include countries like
India and Indonesia, which have
current account deficits and are
expected to face difficulties when
the United States reduces the
pace of its easy money policy.
For China, the era of
guaranteed rapid growth
of exports to the United
States and Europe is over.
It is changing direction
from export-led to domestic
growth, and from investmentbased to consumptionbased domestic demand.

A SCAVENGER WALKS PAST AN ADVERTISEMENT OF
A NEW SHOPPING MALL IN JAKARTA, INDONESIA,
SOUTHEAST ASIA'S LARGEST ECONOMY.