(30-11-2009) UNDP Launches new Regional and Malaysian reports on global financial and economic crisis
UNDP launches Regional Synthesis Report and a Malaysian case study on the global financial and economic crisis
On 30 November 2009, UNDP launched a new report calling for
Asian countries to pursue an equitable approach to economic growth as the
region emerges out of the current global economic and financial crisis.While commending the region for rapid
recovery, the new report argued that not enough was being done to reset the
region to a new more sustainable growth path, and called for a new development
paradigm in Asia to ensure its long-term economic recovery.
The UNDP Regional Synthesis Report was officially launched
at the Institute of South EastAsianStudies (ISEAS) in
Singapore by S. Pushpanathan, ASEAN Deputy Secretary-General for the ASEAN
Economic Community, who said in his keynote address, “I would like to
congratulate UNDP for undertaking this important study on, in particular the
social dimension of the (financial and economic) crisis, as it will certainly
serve as valuable input to Asian countries in achieving stable, sustainable and
equitable growth, fully cognizant of the changes the world economy is
undergoing due to shifts in consumption and investment patterns, capital flows,
climate change phenomenon, rising food and energy prices and rapid
urbanization.”
Introducing the Report was Dr. Ajay Chhibber, UN Assistant
Secretary-General and UNDP Assistant Administrator and head of its Asia and the
Pacific bureau, who said, “If Asia wants this to be its century, it must more
vigorously find an alternate development path away from its old export led
growth model and instead view this crisis as an opportunity to re-balance and
re-direct Asian growth through domestic demand expansion.”
The Report has emphasized the importance of more equitable
growth and the need to avoid the huge imbalances that underpinned the massive
global expansion of the 1990s in which developing Asia
expanded capital to the developed West.
Dr. Chhibber, a co-author of the
report, added, “There are worrisome signs that some may be tempted to return to
the old export led model which is unsustainable given the debt laden economies
of the West.”
The Report also urges that Asian
countries to modernize social protection policies that not only serve as
welfare measures to protect human development, but also act as counter-cyclical
buffers in periods of macroeconomic downswing, in view that the poor, as well
as vulnerable groups such as women and children, are the worst effected by the
economic crisis.
According to the Report, Asia as a whole has very low social protection coverage,
with only 30% of the elderly receiving pensions and only 20% of the unemployed
having access to labour market programmes such as unemployment benefits,
training or food-for-work programmes. Healthcare is also cited as a major
concern region-wide, with only 20% of the population having access to
health-care assistance, and Asia recording the
highest rates of out-of-pocket health care expenditure in the world.
The Regional Synthesis Report is
co-authored by Dr. Ajay Chhibber; Dr. T.
Palanivel, Senior Policy Advisor and Programme Coordinator, The
Millennium DevelopmentGoals
Initiative (MDGI), UNDP Regional Centre for Asia and the Pacific,
Colombo, Sri Lanka; and Prof. Jayati Ghosh, Professor
of Economics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India.
The launch event also featured a series of workshops that
provided a strategic platform for the exchange of views on the future economic
development path of ASEAN countries and the achievement of the Millennium
Development Goals. Participating ASEAN member countries include Cambodia, Indonesia,
Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore,
Thailand, and Vietnam.
On 1st
December, a second UNDP report was launched in Kuala Lumpur entitled “The Global Financial
Crisis and the Malaysian Economy: Impact and Responses”, which called for Malaysia to prioritize
technology and innovation in order to realize its aim of transforming itself
into a high-value economy and creating a more stable and sustainable future for
the nation.
Opening
the launch was Kamal Malhotra, UN
Resident Coordinator for Malaysia and UNDP Resident Representative for
Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam, who said, “For Malaysia to emerge
successfully from this crisis and transform into a high value economy, there
must be an urgent and much greater shift towards technology and innovation, as
strengthening its technical competency and capacity through R&D and
technological upgrading, will be critical to ensuring its long-term economic
stability and sustainability.”
Malhotra
added, “A major part of the economic transformation needs to focus on human
capital development; there is hence an urgent and systematic need to build a
critical pool of scientists and a technologically skilled workforce which needs
to be given the highest priority, especially since such investments often take
decades to bear fruition.”
Commenting
on Malaysia’s recovery from the ongoing economic and financial crisis,Malhotra said, “WhileMalaysia announcement of two stimulus
packages worth RM60billion is commendable, the bigger challenge remains in
ensuringthat the stimulus packages and
programmes are well targeted for impact, but also ensure a future growth trajectory
that is equitable and fair and one through which the growing disparities
between urban and rural sectors are reduced and the welfare of all people
are equally prioritized.”
The keynote address was presented by Dr. Ajay Chhibber, followed by a presentation on the global financial and economic crisis and its impact on developing counties worldwide by Dr. Rathin Roy,
Director, UNDP International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth, Brazil.
A Question
and Answer session followed both speakers, which was moderated by Tan Sri Jawhar Hassan, Chairman and CEO, the Institute of Strategic and International
Studies (ISIS).
The
Malaysia report was commissioned by UNDP and co-authored by a team led by Prof.
Dr. Rajah Rasiah, Dean, Faculty of Economics and Administration, University
Malaya and Dato’ Dr. Mahani Zainal Abidin, Director
General, Institute of
Strategic and International Studies (ISIS).
The report presents a package of
eight (8) recommendations for policymakers on how Malaysia can achieve its goal of
becoming a high-income economy, as the country seeks to prioritize both
short-term responses and longer-term economic restructuring measures to deal
with the crisis and its implications.
To view the Regional
Synthesis Report and the Malaysia
report, please visit www.undp.org.my
where it is available for download under the “Resources” section.
Contact Person
Ms. Jamie Menon Communications Associate United Nations Development Programme Wisma UN, Kompleks Pejabat Damansara, Jalan Dungun, Damansara Heights 50490 Kuala Lumpur
