Last week Vietnam hosted the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders Meeting in Da Nang. Oxfam published a new report, Redefining inclusive growth in Asia: How APEC can achieve an economy that leaves no one behind to coincide with the discussions at APEC.
The report notes that over the past three decades Asia has seen remarkable economic growth and poverty has been significantly reduced. For many years economic growth benefited the broader population, however, more recently inequality has been growing in the region and so Oxfam has called for APEC leaders to promote inclusive growth.
The Vietnamese government has also recognised the importance of promoting inclusive growth at the APEC summit. Ambassador Bui Thanh Son said ‘equal attention should be paid to the three dimensions of economic, financial and social inclusion. Effectiveness of each dimension would be reduced if the other two are not keeping pace. Conversely, enhanced effectiveness of one dimension will feed into the other two.’
Oxfam says APEC leaders must ensure that the poorest and most vulnerable people have a say in policy and decision making. CIRD advocates for ethnic minorities, remote farmers and other marginalised people, informing policy makers and government officials about the impacts of policies, while also promoting the indigenous knowledge and values of ethnic minority people. CIRD has partnered with Oxfam and many other NGOs in this work and will continue this work in the future.
View the Oxfam report here: https://www.oxfam.org/en/research/redefining-inclusive-growth-asia
Read about the APEC Symposium on Promoting Economic, Financial and Social Inclusion here: https://www.apec2017.vn/ap17-c/press-release/apec-symposium-promoting-economic-financial-and-social-inclusion
