10 May 2012

UN / ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL SURVEY ASIA PACIFIC

A UN survey says that Asia and the Pacific will face another year of slowing growth as demand for its exports falls in developed nations and capital costs rise, but the region will remain the anchor of global economic stability. UNTV

Posted at: May 10, 2012 3:40 pm

Duration: 02:36

Available in: SD

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STORY: UN / ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL SURVEY ASIA PACIFIC
TRT: 2.36
SOURCE: UNTV
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 10 MAY 2012, NEW YORK CITY

SHOTLIST:

FILE – UNTV – UNITED NATIONS HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK CITY

1. Wide shot, exterior, United Nations headquarters

10 MAY 2012, NEW YORK CITY

2. Wide shot, press conference
3. Cutaway, journalists
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Robert Vos, Director, Development Policy and Analysis Division, UN-DESA:
"While growth is still strong, Asia is slowing down and particularly it's slowing down because of what's happening in other parts of the world. So we see slow down because of lesser demand and financial impacts from the Eurozone problems, rising oil prices, volatile capital flows but also volatile commodity markets and commodity prices."
5. Cutaway, cameraman
6.  SOUNDBITE (English) Robert Vos, Director, Development Policy and Analysis Division, UN-DESA:
"If problems in Europe worsen and if there is more laxed monetary policy, more liquidity injections that may end up in stronger capital flow volatility and financial volatility also in markets in Asia and that could dampen growth further."
7. Cutaway, journalists
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Robert Vos, Director, Development Policy and Analysis Division, UN-DESA:
"What we see is that there is still high unemployment rates in many countries in the region but particularly very high amounts of people in informal sectors in vulnerable employment situations and staying there. About two thirds in the region of the working population is in very vulnerable informal sector type of employment, a worrying issue to this employment growth is that youth employment in the region stays very high, on average its more than ten percent and it's estimated to stay this way also moving forward that's a major concern."
9. Cutaway, journalists
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Robert Vos, Director, Development Policy and Analysis Division, UN-DESA:
"What we should do while we look at the short term challenges in Asian and Pacific countries we have to also look at what should be done over the medium run to get to share prosperity and that is particularly addressing inequalities, it's redressing the current jobless growth that many of the counties see. So there is growth unemployment also because of high GDP growth, but it's not enough to absorb a lot more workers into higher end jobs, better paid jobs and through that also accelerate the rate of poverty reduction in the region."
11. Wide shot, press briefing room

STORYLINE:

A United Nations survey says that Asia and the Pacific faces another year of slowing growth as demand for its exports falls in developed nations and capital costs rise, but the region will remain the anchor of global economic stability.

The Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2012launched at UN headquarters today says that the growth rate of the region's developing economies is projected to slow down to 6.5 per cent in 2012 from 7.0 per cent last year, compared to a strong 8.9 per cent in 2010.

However, the slowdown in growth will help lower inflation in Asia and the Pacific which is projected to moderate from 6.1 per cent in 2011 to 4.8 per cent this year.

Director of the Development Policy and Analysis Division Robert Voss said that the slow down was because of "lesser demand and financial impacts from the Euro-zone problems, rising oil prices, volatile capital flows but also volatile commodity markets and commodity prices."

The survey says that more than 1 billion workers in the region are in vulnerable employment with developing countries failing to generate sufficient work opportunities in the formal sector, notes the Survey.

Voss said that youth employment in the region was on average more than ten percent and that is was estimated to continue this way which was cause for "major concern."

Another priority for the region is to make growth more inclusive. Levels of income inequality have grown by a worrying 15 percent in developing Asia-Pacific economies since the 1990s.

Voss said that the main message of the survey would be to look what should be done over the medium term and to look closer at addressing inequalities, redressing the current jobless growth that many of the counties are experiencing now, "but it's not enough to absorb a lot more workers into higher end jobs, better paid jobs and through that also accelerate the rate of poverty reduction in the region."