Manila: How to close the great divide between the wealthy few and millions of poor people in Asia must be at the top of the agenda of world leaders attending the APEC summit next week, according to international development organization Oxfam. At the launch of its paper, “A Different Route, Reimagining Prosperity in Asia”, today in Manila, Oxfam urged APEC member countries to look at the soaring inequality in Asia, despite steady levels of economic growth in the last quarter century. For Oxfam, this contradiction underscores the need for a different economic and development paradigm that benefits not just businesses, but the people, from workers to farmers, who are the driving force behind the economic growth in the region.
“Asia needs a new model of economic development and this is inclusive and sustainable development. Inclusive and sustainable development puts poor people first, fighting for their right to fair wages and their right to be heard in political and market decisions or policies. It is also a model that does not sacrifice the environment at the altar of productivity or profit, thereby managing natural resources for future generations,” said Riza Bernabe, one of the authors of A Different Route and regional research and policy coordinator of Oxfam in Asia.
Citing data from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Oxfam’s paper, A Different Route, found that inequality in the region between the mid-1990s and the late 2000s has risen by as much as 18 percent and that 1.6 billion people continue to live on less than $ 2 a day. Gini coefficient – a common inequality measure – has worsened during 1990s and 2000s in the countries where more than 80% of the population lived in Asia.
This is particularly urgent for the Philippines, the country most affected by extreme weather events in 2013 according to Germanwatch. The Philippines’ Department of Finance estimates that about 1.1 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) is lost annually because of natural disasters. Elizabeth Marcelo, ‘DOF pegs annual economic losses due to natural disasters at P130 B’, GMA News Online, 1 May 2015. http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/479546/news/nation/dof-pegs-annual-economic-losses-due-to-natural-disasters-at-p130b
“The Philippines is abundant with natural resources, but they are aggressively being exploited. Fishing grounds are overfished and many agricultural lands have been depleted of nutrients. We urge large-scale companies to redefine their way of doing business, mindful of the earth’s limits. A lot of our communities already face risks from climate change, and we must be part of a growing number of countries who are pursuing prosperity without doing more harm to the environment,” said Justin Morgan, country director of the Philippines program of Oxfam.