August 26, 2006	Saturday	Sha'aban 1, 1427

KARACHI, Aug 25: Economic growth does not ensure human development and poverty eradication by itself. Latest economic data of countries of Asia Pacific, the fastest growing region of the world, proves.

This was observed by Dr Hafiz Pasha, UN Assistant Secretary General and Director Regional Bureau of Asia and Pacific, while launching “Asia-Pacific Human Development Report 2006” here on Friday.

“Economic growth does not ensure eradication of poverty on its own,” he said and added that during 1990s Chinese and Indian economies grew by plus nine and five per cent but the employment growth remained just 1pc and below 1pc respectively.

He said trade was good for growth but not necessarily for human development and poverty eradication. He also stressed for more attention on agriculture as 70 to 80pc population of this region was still living in rural areas.

He said the level of employment was a dependable indicator to gauge the nature and content of growth. Increase in employment rate reflected that benefits of expansion in economic activity were shared by people.

He said that the era of liberalisation was also a period when most of high growth economies neglected agricultural sector and rural economy.

“China that was net exporter of food till the turn of the century has become an importer over the last few years and India met the same fortune,” he said and added the two countries were putting enormous pressure on world food prices.

Dr Pasha said that the regional cooperation was must for the human development. “The region has a huge pool of foreign exchange reserves of $2,000 billion and the cooperation could bring vital change in the trade and growth”.

He also expressed concern over bilateral agreements and said that a trade agreement between a small country and a big country could put junior partner in a disadvantageous position.

The strategy of trade on human terms identifies the types of national policies needed to ensure that all people realise the potential benefits of trade.

The report examines from an Asia-Pacific perspective the changes required in the world’s trading system, as envisioned in the Global Partnership for Development and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Drawing on the diverse experiences of the region it proposes a development strategy that effectively combines trade liberalisation with the promotion of poverty reduction and human development.

“Asia-Pacific has embraced globalisation, but globalisation will not embrace the region’s poor without determined action on the part of governments,” said Dr Pasha.

The report finds that Asia-Pacific is opening up faster to free trade than any other region and to benefit all people in an era of expanded trade, following eight-point agenda of national policies is proposed:

Investments in infrastructure, higher education and research and development for competitiveness; adoption of strategic trade and industrial policies; a renewed focus on agriculture and rural development; and measures for combating “jobless growth.

“The time has come to use the trade for the human development,” said Dr Pasha.

Chief guest State Bank Governor Dr Shamshad Akhtar also threw some light on the subject. She discussed the trade liberalisation and said that Pakistan had slashed its import tariff from maximum 65pc to 25pc.

However, she said that Pakistan had become the least protective country in the region because of low import tariff.

She said the report enhanced the scope and depth of the debate on trade and offers valuable insights on trade liberalisation in the context of human development.

Dr Akhtar also discussed the changing trade dynamics, which have regional and global dimensions, and how Pakistan had positioned itself within the aggressive trade environment and the policies being adopted by the government to ensure the sustainability of export growth.

She stressed upon the need for multilateral and regional cooperation for the promotion of trade.