ASEAN unity key to sustainable development
There is an emergence of the missing middle class whose members lack access to basic services despite increases in income
The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) is calling on ASEAN-member countries to work together closely to achieve the targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia, speaking at the 4th ASEAN Statistical Forum last week, expressed a need “to move as one” and utilize individual strengths to find innovative and transformative solutions that can identify linkages and address the root cause of each problem the region is faced with.
Pernia noted that the Philippines has been hampered by social problems such as income inequality, unemployment insecurity, and environmental degradation and increasing disaster risks. He said there is an emergence of the missing middle class whose members lack access to basic services despite increases in income.
To address these issues, Pernia stressed on the importance of the ASEAN Community Statistical System (ACSS) as a data collector and generator.
“We, as a community, need to exchange notes on best practices in data collection, management and reporting,” he said.
He also urged ASEAN member-states to establish comparable indices for tracking development goals and progress in achieving such objectives.
Such indices, he explained, would guide policymakers to make well-informed and evidence-based policy decisions to help solve economic, environmental and social issues today.
He also stressed on the significance of developing statistics in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines comprising the East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) and identify the kind of development the poorest provinces in every country would require.
Pernia noted that the Philippines has already started using the multidimensional poverty index, which may be adopted by ASEAN as a whole.
Apart from helping monitor the regional progress of the Sustainable Development Goals, Pernia explained that the development of the Core SDG ASEAN Indicators will also contribute to identifying development gaps.
“However, to make all of these possible, we need to strengthen our statistical agencies by increasing technical and financial support for statistical capacity building,” Pernia stressed.
The 2030 SDG is also part of the ASEAN Vision 2025 which aspires to give people a higher quality of life and are free from hunger, poverty, and conflict, and can enjoy fundamental freedoms and rights.