Region on the Rise
IMF Blog, August 30, 2018
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- Region on the Rise
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Bibliographic details
- Authors: globalization to build competitive economies that play a vital role in the global supply chain, lifting millions of people out of poverty.
- Published: August 30, 2018
Overview
- Publication date: August 30, 2018
- Profile vignette: Sreynith Hak, 25, moved to Phnom Penh eight years ago to pursue a bachelor’s degree in media management. Quote: “I can see more of the world; I can do what I want.”
- Geography and scale: Southeast Asia described as home to 643 million people and composed of the ten countries that make up the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
- Context: Southeast Asia has experienced devastating financial crises, armed conflicts, and untold natural disasters, yet leveraged globalization to build competitive economies and lift millions out of poverty.
- IMF context: The piece is presented as background as the IMF prepares to hold its annual membership meeting in Indonesia.
Major challenges identified
- Climate change described as a “very real threat.”
- Rapid aging of society.
- Human trafficking.
- Geopolitical shifts.
- Need to address diverse vulnerabilities despite past resilience to crises.
Opportunities and drivers of growth
- Digital technology as an “exhilarating” opportunity.
- Integration of women into the labor force highlighted as an important driver.
- Closer collaboration within the region seen as beneficial.
- Emphasis on the creativity, resilience, and dynamism of the region’s people as resources to meet challenges (attributed to Chang Yong Rhee, director of the IMF’s Asia and Pacific Department).
Key quotations and perspectives
- Chang Yong Rhee: “With the right policies, Southeast Asia can rely on the creativity, resilience, and dynamism of its people to meet those challenges.”
- Sreynith Hak on personal aspiration and persistence: “I have my own timeline, my own clock,” and “I want to prove to people that I can do it—maybe even better than some guy.”
Institutional and publication notes
- ABOUT THE BLOG: IMFBlog is a forum for the views of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff and officials on pressing economic and policy issues of the day.
- The IMF is described as being based in Washington D.C. and as “an organization of 191 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation and financial stability around the world.”
- Editorial note: “The views expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the IMF and its Executive Board.”
Source: IMF IMFBlog — Region on the Rise (August 30, 2018).
References
- https://www.imf.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/BLOG-1024x600-FD-editors-blog-COVER_FD0918_highres.jpg
- future of Southeast Asia
- leverage the possibilities created by globalization
- climate change
- human trafficking
- digital technology
- integration of women
- writes Chang Yong Rhee
- young people like Hak
- Finance & Development, September 2018
