Sustaining Asia’s Economic Recovery in the 21st Century

7th Asia Economic ForumPhnom Penh, Cambodia

31 July 2011

Dr Thein Swe

1: Developing countries are contributing more to global growth

Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators 2011.

2. Challenges to sustain Asia’s economic recovery

•Poverty and inequalities•Gap between surging economies & poverty•Competition for natural resources•Economic and social disparities•Environmental challenges•Transparency, Accountability & governance • The “middle income trap”

3: Three types of economies in Asia

• Low income/growth economies (LGE)

•High growth middle income economies (MIE)

•High-income developed economies (HIDE)

4: Low Income Economies market share in global market

Source: 2011 World Development Indicators, World Bank.

5: Inequality is increasing in Asian Countries G i n i C o e f f i c i e n t ChangeCountry Initial Year Final Year ( % )

Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators, 2011.

6. Primary Commodity Prices started to rise again from 2009-2010

Source: World Bank Commodity Price Data

7: Avoiding the middle income trap

Source: IMF World Economic Outlook, October 2010.

8: Stages of Industrialization

9: Firms in East Asia and South Asia have the lowest tax rate

Source: World Bank, Doing Business 2011

10: Rankings on Ease of Doing Business2011 2010

Singapore 1 1

Thailand 19 16

Malaysia 21 23

Viet Nam 78 88

Indonesia 121 115

Cambodia 147 145

Philippines 148 146

Lao PDR 171 169Source: World Bank, Doing Business 2011, November 4, 2010.

The End