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Asia-Pacific productivity "under threat and needs reform”

Asia-Pacific productivity "under threat and needs reform”

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The Asia-Pacific region is an economic powerhouse but urgently needs to rethink its economic strategy if it’s to stay that way, UN experts said Thursday.

Latest data from the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) shows that although the region is likely to see stable growth in 2017, productivity is down and inequality growing.

Getting back on track to sustainable economic development will require governments focusing more on rural communities and less on external markets, where demand is slowing.

That’s according to Alfredo Calcagno from the UN Trade and Development agency UNCTAD, who has been speaking to Daniel Johnson.

Duration: 4"22"

Photo Credit
World Bank/Graham Crouch