Although developing countries in East Asia are recovering from the regional economic crisis, many states are not delivering "quality growth" to their citizens, a leading World Bank official said in Bangkok Wednesday.
"Quantity and quality need to go together for real growth," a combination which has not always occurred in developing East Asia, said Vinod Thomas, vice president of the World Bank Institute, the bank's training arm.
"Though Thailand ranked seventh in the world in GDP per capita growth over the past quarter-century, there is considerable discussion among the public about the value of this growth," he said.
Much of Thailand, Indonesia and other Southeast Asian states' apparent gross domestic product (GDP) growth has been negated by the concurrent destruction of the environment and inequality in access to education, Thomas said. .
In several South and Southeast Asian states, especially India and Indonesia, access to education had not improved over the past quarter century, he said.
"No country has achieved sustained growth without substantial and efficient investments in education."
Thomas was speaking at the launch of a World Bank-funded study called "The Quality of Growth".
The study analyzed to what extent developing states had embraced qualitative growth such as income distribution and environmental protection.
"The last decade of the 20th century witnessed striking progress in many parts of the world," said Thomas.
In order to further reduce poverty and improve quality of life, states must address qualitative aspects of growth such as greater security of life and a more sustainable environment, the study said – BANGKOK (AFP)
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