Regional compact sought to boost trade to reduce poverty<\/p>\n
The United Nations Development Programme has been coordinating
\nglobal efforts at the country level in achieving the Millennium
\nDevelopment Goals (MDGs). The Jakarta Post's Riyadi Suparno and
\nHera Diani interviewed Hafiz Pasha, UNDP regional director for
\nthe Asia-Pacific, to get his views on ways to scale up efforts to
\nachieve the MDGs.<\/p>\n
Question: In your perspective, what's the situation in Asia-
\nPacific countries in terms of achieving the MDGs?
\nAnswer: The region as a whole has always done quite well. It's
\nthe most dynamic region in the world. So, in all of our terms,
\ncertainly in terms of reducing poverty, we are more or less on
\ntarget. But much of its achievement is attributed to countries
\nlike China and India, the big countries. Some of the smaller
\ncountries like least developed countries (LDCs), land-locked
\ndeveloping countries (LLDCs) and small islands developing states
\n(SIDs) are not doing too well.<\/p>\n
And among the different individual indicators, education and
\nimprovement of the status of women, particularly in educating
\nthem, they are not doing too badly.<\/p>\n
The real problems are in the area of health, in terms of major
\ndiseases; we have now avian flu, early on we had SARs. HIV\/AIDS
\nis also becoming a bigger problem in Asia, and of course,
\nmaternal mortality, and then the environmental problems are
\nbecoming extremely serious.<\/p>\n
We also have the extremely serious problem with energy which
\ncosts billions of dollars a day. Your country doesn't have such a
\nbig problem, but other countries, including my own (Pakistan),
\nare in trouble.<\/p>\n
So, it's a mixed performance.<\/p>\n
About Indonesia, what do you think about our performance in
\nachieving MDGs?<\/p>\n
Indonesia has a serious problem. When the economic crisis hit
\nEast Asia, Indonesia was perhaps the worse hit country. The
\naccomplishment in cutting poverty achieved in the decades before
\nwas wiped out in just a year. There has been some recovery since
\nthen. And I think now Indonesia has made much more progress in
\nachieving the MDGs. But, I'm particularly concerned with the
\nenvironmental problems, with pollution, sanitation and so forth;
\nso, health problems as well. They are very serious.<\/p>\n
Many countries in Asia do face problems in achieving the MDGs.
\nHowever, this region seems to get less attention from the world
\nleaders than, say, sub-Saharan countries. Why does that happen?<\/p>\n
That's the whole purpose behind this ministerial meeting,
\n\"Don't forget Asia.\" We are very happy that the world is turning
\nto Africa. But we have to realize that two-thirds of the world's
\npoor are in Asia and you cannot neglect the poor here. There are
\n14 least-developed countries in Asia, 6 LLDCs and 9 SIDs. We also
\nhave the poorest countries in the world. Afghanistan, for
\nexample, is even poorer than sub-Saharan Africa.<\/p>\n
So, the basic message we want to convey is that the
\ninternational community should also support the poor people in
\nAsia. We want to say that ours is a dynamic region, we'd also
\nwant to do things ourselves. So, we want to develop what we call
\na regional compact, that we want to solve our own problems.<\/p>\n
Could you elaborate more on the regional compact?<\/p>\n
Basically, we want to have regional integration. ASEAN (the
\nAssociation of Southeast Asian Nations) is the best example.
\nWithin ASEAN, there is a big development gap between the old
\nmembers and the new members. There are very progressive, dynamic
\ncountries like Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, but also we have
\nsome very poor countries like Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and
\nMyanmar. I think there is a need to focus on narrowing this gap,
\nand focusing on the poverty in these poor members.<\/p>\n
Also in South Asia, there is a very large concentration of
\npoverty in countries like Nepal and Bhutan. So, maybe, there is a
\ncase for stronger regional integration through SARC (the South
\nAsia Regional Coordination).<\/p>\n
In addition, we have a number of big regional entities and
\nrich developed countries.<\/p>\n
So, the focus should be on trading arrangements, South-South
\ncooperation, foreign direct investment from some of the more
\nprogressive countries in the region to the less developed
\ncountries. So, the scope of the regional compact in this region
\nis quite substantive. But it needs political commitment.<\/p>\n
You mention South-South cooperation in terms of trade. What
\nabout promoting trade with developed countries in the region?<\/p>\n
What is happening to the more developed countries is that they
\nare more interested in trading with the United States and the
\nEurope rather than intra-regional countries. Poor countries,
\ntherefore, have had not really access to trade. That's why we are
\nsaying that we should focus on intra-regional trade. China is a
\nbig market, so are Southeast Asian countries. If they (poor
\ncountries) are given more access, they might do better.<\/p>\n
Don't you think the regional compact which promotes intra-
\nregional trade will undermine the multilateral trading system
\nthrough the World Trade Organization (WTO)?<\/p>\n
As long as the WTO makes some progress. If it makes progress
\nthen, you will have a nice, free trade, multilateral trading
\nsystem, with the rules in favor of some of the poor countries.
\nThat will be wonderful. But if not, the least we can do is to
\nfocus on regional trade.<\/p>\n
What about investment in the framework of the regional
\ncompact?<\/p>\n
There is a new development with China starting to invest in
\nmany countries in the region. China has decided now in a sense to
\nexplore the potentials, establishing infrastructure facilities in
\nsome of the poorer countries.<\/p>\n
Other countries should be doing it as well. Malaysia is doing
\nit, South Korea is doing it, and Japan, of course, is the biggest
\nforeign direct investor in the region, (but) especially China.<\/p>\n
The focus of the regional compact is on trade arrangements.
\nBut what about problems regarding migrant workers?<\/p>\n
They should be property regulated. For certain categories of
\nworkers, for example, in my country, we have temporary migration
\nof nurses to the Middle Eastern countries, similarly from some
\nother poor countries in East Asia like the Philippines. So, you
\nneed to regulate that, but not stop it. Regulate it, direct it
\nbetter.<\/p>",
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