## Region on the Rise

_IMF Blog, August 30, 2018_

## Source details

**Canonical URL:** [Region on the Rise](https://www.imf.org/en/blogs/articles/2018/08/30/region-on-the-rise)

## Other formats

- [Markdown version](/en/blogs/articles/2018/08/30/region-on-the-rise/index.md)
- [Structured JSON version](/en/blogs/articles/2018/08/30/region-on-the-rise/index.json)
- [Bundle manifest](/en/blogs/articles/2018/08/30/region-on-the-rise/bundle-manifest.json)

## 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

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### 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).*

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## References

- [https://www.imf.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/BLOG-1024x600-FD-editors-blog-COVER_FD0918_highres.jpg](https://www.imf.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/BLOG-1024x600-FD-editors-blog-COVER_FD0918_highres.jpg)
- [future of Southeast Asia](http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2018/09/future-of-southeast-asia-bhaskaran.htm)
- [leverage the possibilities created by globalization](http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2018/09/asean-digital-economy-infographic-feng.htm)
- [climate change](http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2018/09/southeast-asia-climate-change-and-greenhouse-gas-emissions-prakash.htm)
- [human trafficking](http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2018/09/human-trafficking-in-southeast-asia-caballero.htm)
- [digital technology](http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2018/09/asia-digital-revolution-sedik.htm)
- [integration of women](http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2018/09/female-labor-force-participation-in-vietnam-banerji.htm)
- [writes Chang Yong Rhee](http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2018/09/southeast-asia-progress-and-reform-rhee.htm)
- [young people like Hak](http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2018/09/southeast-asian-youth-on-the-future-overman.htm)
- [Finance & Development, September 2018](http://www.imf.org/fandd)

_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/blogs/articles/2018/08/30/region-on-the-rise_