1. 1 Pro-poor Sustained Economic Growth Policies: Asia-Pacific Perspectives By Kim Hak-Su UN Under-Secretary-General & Executive Secretary of ESCAP High-level Dialogue of the Executive Secretaries with ECOSOC

2. 2 OVERVIEW  Poverty & growth  How macroeconomic policies affect growth  Achieving pro-poor growth: policy recommendations

3. 3 RAPID POVERTY REDUCTION: HIGH & SUSTAINED GROWTH NEEDED Growth rates & poverty levels Average annual GDP growth Population below $1 poverty line (%) (1993-2002)19932002 China9.728.416.6 Viet Nam7.314.62.2

4. 4 MACROECONOMIC POLICIES, GROWTH & EQUITY Growth process: increases the poor’s incomes faster More public expenditure on health & education: benefits the poor, increases their productivity Labour-intensive sectors: engines of economic growth

5. 5 POLICIES IMPACTING ON GROWTH & EQUITY  Fiscal  Monetary  Trade  Structural adjustment  Human resources development  Sectoral: agriculture, construction & small- & medium-enterprises  Redistribution of land & other assets  Population  Pro-poor targeting

6. 6 PRO-POOR GROWTH – MACRO ECONOMIC POLICIES  Fiscal policy: to reduce inequalities  Promote sectors with more employment opportunities

7. 7 POVERTY REDUCTION: MAJOR DETERMINANTS Dependent variable: Population below dollar (PPP) a day per capita poverty line Explanatory variablesCoefficientt-values GDP per capita (constant 2000 US$)-0.8584 (-4.85) Trade (% of GDP)-0.6744 (-3.52) Agriculture, value added (% of GDP)-0.7296 (-2.45) Population density (people per km 2 )0.0972 (1.14) Age dependency ratio (dependents to working-age population) 1.4822 (2.55) Number of observations79 R-squared0.51 F-statistic41.35 Notes: i. Estimation is by ordinary least squares with robust standard errors. ii. All variables are in natural logarithms.

8. 8 ACHIEVING PRO-POOR GROWTH: POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS  Pro-poor growth strategies  Ensure that the rural poor benefit from growth  Invest in agricultural R&D, including rural infrastructure, rural education, health, water & sanitation  Remove barriers to service delivery  Role of ESCAP