Asia-Pacific nations seek joint response to global downturn at UN gathering

Countries of Asia and the Pacific are taking part in a United Nations meeting, held in the Republic of Korea, to agree on a coordinated response to ensure that the region’s initial rebound from the global economic crisis can lead to sustainable growth.

The week-long annual session of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) kicked off in northwest city of Incheon today, drawing ministers and top officials from around the region.

The Asia-Pacific region is home to nearly two-thirds all people in the world.

The theme of the event is “Financing an Inclusive and Green Future,” with nations hoping to build consensus on promoting clean growth and on stronger and more sustainable financial system.

Noeleen Heyzer, ESCAP Executive Secretary, said this year’s gathering is focusing on two key challenges: “our ability to harness the economic recovery under way in Asia and the Pacific today, and to seek to sustain this growth through a concerted effort by governments across the region to adopt ‘Green Growth’ and clean technology development to improve the lives of our region’s people.”

The meeting’s high-level segment will begin on 17 May, and top officials from countries including the Republic of Korea, Bangladesh and Vanuatu, are expected to attend.

“It is time to move from individual country strengths to collective regional strengths; to introduce balance back into our economic and social order; to develop common regional positions and solutions to global problems; to address the disparities in our region; to value the gifts of our Earth,” Ms. Heyzer emphasized.

Last week, ESCAP issued its annual Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2010 report, which called on governments to raise spending on social programmes to sustain the region’s robust economic recovery and ensure that the benefits of the revived growth trickle down to people most affected by the global financial crisis.

“Governments must embrace this opportunity to secure the gains of the economic rebound by investing in social programmes that directly benefit people hardest hit by the crisis, act to reduce poverty, and create a more sustainable economy,” Ms. Heyzer said at the survey’s launch.

According to the survey, even at the height of the economic crisis, Asia and the Pacific was still the fastest-growing region in the world, a trend supported mainly by fiscal stimulus packages made available by the region’s biggest economies.

The economic growth outlook for 2010 has improved significantly, with the region’s developing economies forecast to expand by seven per cent. China will be ahead of the pack with 9.5 per cent growth followed by India’s 8.3 per cent, according to the report.