East Asia must clear hurdles to sustain growth

In the past half-century, East Asia has made extraordinary progress in sustaining economic growth and improving living standards. Some of the region's developing economies are now middle-income countries and have collectively grown more than three-fold. Some of the economies that moved up from low-to middle-income status in the past quarter-century can realistically aspire to high-income status in the space of the next generation.

The region's sustained growth means more than 1 billion of its people moved out of extreme poverty and, as a result, nearly two-thirds of developing East Asia's population can now be considered economically secure or middle-income earners.

Yet developing East Asia's resurgence remains work in progress. Changes in global and national circumstances mean the region's transition to high-income status will depend on how well the economies are able to adapt their development models to these changing circumstances.