Asia-Pacific must drive all-in growth

Asia-Pacific countries continue to drive the global economy. The region has demonstrated great resilience during the economic and financial crisis, contributing about 70 percent of world growth from 2008-2011.

Yet regional growth is now in a challenging phase. The 2014 Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific, the flagship publication of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, forecasts a third successive year of growth below 6 percent in Asia-Pacific developing economies. However, this conceals a wide variation in performance among some major developing economies, ranging from a 7.5 percent growth forecast for China to just 0.3 percent for the Russian Federation in 2014.

Regional growth dynamics are being influenced by the anemic recovery in the developed world given the weak implementation of policy responses. Yet overcoming domestic structural impediments is also vital. Widespread poverty, rising inequality, social inequity and environmental degradation are hurdles to be cleared before the region can set itself on the fast track to high growth which is stable and inclusive.