Reducing corruption and improving government accountability are the greatest challenges to making Asia the world's wealthiest region by 2050, the Asian Development Bank said Wednesday.
The continent is undergoing a historic transformation, according to a study for the bank unveiled at its annual meeting in Vietnam.
'If it continues to grow on its recent trajectory, it could, by 2050, account for more than half of global gross domestic product, trade and investment, and enjoy widespread affluence,' the report said.
Asia's proportion of global GDP, rising from 27 per cent last year, would match its share of global population and a per capita income of $38,600 would leave the region as well off as Europe is today, it said.
Countries from the Pacific Ocean to Central Asia face many challenges if they are to achieve this, but underlying them all is a need for stronger institutions of governance, says the report, which is aimed at regional policymakers and business leaders.
'The recent deterioration in the quality and credibility of national political and economic institutions (illustrated by rising corruption) is a serious concern', says the bank, which will issue a more detailed version of the study in August.
Data from the World Bank Institute showed a 'clear retreat in voice, accountability and political stability' in the region between 2008 and 2009.
While some places in Asia, notably Singapore and Hong Kong, are rated as among the world's least corrupt, many others are among the worst.
'Asia must modernise governance and retool its institutions with an emphasis on transparency, accountability and enforceability,' the ADB report says.
Source: New Age
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