PASAY CITY,
METRO MANIL A—despite improvements to alleviate poverty in developing nations
in the Asia Pacific region, a lot of work still has to be done to achieve
growth and equality.
“The region still faces significant long-term challenges, high
among these is the issue of rising inequality,” said Asian Development
Bank (ADB) President Haruhiko Kuroda during the fourth Annual Meeting
of the Board of Governors.
Unfortunately,
while the region has made remarkable progress in reducing poverty, the benefits
of growth have yet to reach hundreds of millions of Asians who continue to
struggle on less than $1.25 a day,” said Kuroda.
He added that
the very drivers of Asia’s economic success–new technology, globalization and
market-oriented reforms–have also served to create and increase disparities
within and among Asian economies.
A previous
report by the ADB already indicated the rising tide of poverty and inequality
in the Asia Pacific region.
Income
division among Asians is widening as the richest one percent account for six
percent to eight percent of a country's total income. Meanwhile, the income
among the rich continues to increase over time.
Such is the
need of certain developing countries that ADB is securing $12 billion for
its Asian Development Fund (ADF) to be used for social projects in
recipient countries.
Kuroda
stressed that the ADB is pushing for better governance among Asia Pacific
countries.
Areas in need
of better government policies include education, infrastructure, and employment
generating sectors. These policies will be targeted at resolving inequality by
giving people an opportunity to become financially capable, and is collectively
called “inclusive growth.”
Incidentally,
the ADB host country the Philippines has chosen “inclusive growth” as a theme
for this meeting, reflecting on the program of President Benigno Aquino III
that seeks to commit to a goal of economic growth.
The trudge to
solving poverty may be a long shot but Kuroda said that he is optimistic that
countries in the Asia Pacific region are able to maintain their growth
prospects in the long term.
The ongoing
ADB Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors is the first such event to be held
in the Philippines in 12 years.
SCARCITY…a word
that signifies: famine, crisis, dearth, deficiency, drought, failure,
inadequacy, insufficiency, lack, crunch, shortage and etc. These words
described, are the biggest things that are happening throughout the world right
now…we generalize it through the word POVERTY.
Currently, it is
one of the major problems of every nation, especially the people of the
third-world-countries. We experience lack of foods, jobs, education, health,
facilities and new technology. We are deprived from prosperity and happiness.
And soon enough…only few would be able to survive, and those would surely be
the rich citizens.
Upon reading the
whole article, it really feels great to know that some of our political leaders
are observing every happening that is now occurring here in Asia…especially the
issue of hunger and shortage of work and facilities. Though observing doesn’t
bring rapid improvement…it’s just nice to see or assume that they’re really on
to their jobs, especially that poverty is widespread in this time, and to
think, that they might develop some strategies to improve every country they
hold while they are still going on with their meeting.
Well, all we
could just do right now is to cross our fingers and hope for the best. And wish
that this so-called ADB meeting would be a successful one, and that may each
country develop better governance, so that every family on Earth could live in
a peaceful, happy and stable life!
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