EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom (the sixth from the left) and ASEAN member nations' economiꩲc ministers at a meeting in Manila, the Philippines (Source:EPA/VNA) In his article titled “ASEAN at 50:youth, technology and growth” recently published on Indonesia’s Jakarta Globe website, Wood gave areview of the group’s formation and development process, and its proudachievements over the last five decades.
The year 2017 sees ASEAN celebrating its 50th anniversary, which isalso a moment to think about the future of the region and what lies ahead, itsaid, adding that the WEF on ASEAN in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in May this year willbe just such a moment for reflection.
In recent years, ASEAN achieved remarkable achievements. The bloc as a whole hasa good record in recent years, growing by around 5 percent a year, and poweringthe creation of a large middle class.
Early2016, ASEAN became the seventh largest economy in the world. By the start of2017, that rank had improved to sixth, and by 2020 it is expected to be the fifth.
“But, as impressive as this is, ASEAN could and should be growing much morequickly. A realistic aspiration is to grow at 7 percent”, the article stressed.
At5 percent in growth, ASEAN doubles its income every 15 years, while at 7 percentit doubles every 10 years, it detailed.
According to Justin Wood, to achieve a growth target of 7 percent, the regionmust focus on many individual national issues, such as infrastructure andeducation.
The region would benefit significantly from pushing forward the implementationof the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), he said.
He underlined the role plays by youth for the region’s development, and theneed to ensure the quality of regional growth.
“The 630 million citizens of ASEAN are still extremely young, promising apowerful demographic dividend. As the working-age population grows in number,it will boost the region’s spending, but also increase its savings and henceits capacity to invest.”, he analysed.
Governmentsand policy-makers should ensure they pursue the right policies today toguarantee their demographic dividend is realised, think deeply about educationand how best to prepare workers for the jobs of the future, and identify areasof inter-generational tension, such as the environment and the funding ofpensions and healthcare, the article said.
Regardingtechnology, ASEAN is now the fastest growing internet market in the world, withthe region’s online population expanding by 124,000 new users every day. This paceis forecast to continue in the next five years.
ASEANmust tackle difficult questions about how to navigate the accelerating pace oftechnological change and digital disruption if it wants to prosper for the next50 years.
TheFourth Industrial Revolution could bring huge benefit to the region, drivingfinancial inclusion, access to affordable healthcare, new forms of education,and the creation of new companies and service sector jobs.
However,technology could cause many challenges, so ASEAN member nations should focus onraising public awareness of IT and technology skills, and building the rightenabling environment, and a connected regional digital economy, which enablesthe Fourth Industrial Revolution to thrive, the article stressed.
ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, thePhilippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.-VNA
VNA
