Spreading growth pains key to Asean union

Greater economic integration within Asean and with China and India may entail wider transformation beyond trade and may also affect production and social structures, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said in a statement.

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary and NEDA Director General Cayetano W. Paderanga Jr. said that addressing the way countries trade, for example, would imply rearrangement in the production networks of the said countries.

“As this happens, there will be social and economic transformations within these countries. Economic structures need to change but there will be gainers and losers. The question is, ‘How do we spread the pain?’” he said.

According to the book titled “Asean, the PRC, and India: The Great Transformation?” published by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and ADB Institute, greater collaboration and interaction among the governments of Asean are necessary to be able to achieve “great transformation,” sustainable growth and full integration with China and India.

NEDA said “great transformation” was described in the book as having Asean, China and India as integrated economies that shall exceed the gross domestic product of the US and Europe combined and drive the global eonomy.

“As stated in the book, trends are being projected forward and the region will have to get a greater share of the total global pie,” NEDA said.