MANILA (Yosefardi) – Asia-Pacific economies continue to grow but at a moderated pace on account of slowing global trade, prompting next generation trade and growth boosting measures that target the region’s emerging middle class consumers and open up new economic opportunities for more people and businesses, APEC Ministerial Meeting reported.
APEC economies must take greater steps to translate trade and economic growth to inclusive growth, defined by improved income growth and distribution, the research goes on to explain.
Trade growth over the past quarter century has lifted incomes but it has not significantly contributed to reducing inequalities in the APEC region, it reveals.
To combat this trend, it is advised that trade openness be accompanied by policies that enable inclusive growth.
“Policies such as human capital investment, social protection, labor market reform, financial market reform as well as institutional reform could help to ensure that the benefits of economic integration are widely felt,” said Dr Denis Hew, Director of the Policy Support Unit, which authored the reports.
“Working out the details is something that will take time but ultimately determine whether the value of greater interconnectedness can live up to its full potential.”
The region’s economic performance is expected to moderate in 2015, growing by 3.1 per cent, and subsequently recover in 2016 on 3.4 per cent growth. This reflects an upward trend in advanced economies and a more upbeat export performance among developing economies next year.