South Asian Business news and information

What is definition of poverty? An income of less than $1 a day? I think this definition is stated most of the times in the media. These days, we often talk about the rising economies of China and India. Many people feel that 21st century is going to be the Asian Century. It may happen or not happen but what has happened is that most of the poor people in the world live in Asia now.

If the definition of poverty is measured as less than $1 a day of income then Asia has now nearly 600 million poor people. If the definition is measured as an income of $2 a day then the number of poor people in Asia will dramatically increase to nearly 2 billion (1.9 billion people). This miserable statistics from International Labour Organisation (ILO). I am quoting from a report of Boston Herald:

“ More than 600 million Asians live below the $1-a-day poverty level, or “more than two-thirds of the world’s poor,” the report said. “If the poverty line is raised to $2 a day, Asia has about 1.9 billion poor people,” or more than three-fourths of the world total, it said.

The percentage of people living on $1 a day in South Asia, which includes India and Bangladesh, dropped to 28.4 percent in 2003 from 40.9 percent in 1990, the report said. In East Asia, which includes China, it fell to 14.9 percent from 31.2 percent.”

So, the only thing to get some consolation is the fact that South Asian and East Asian countries are making some inroads in their fight against extreme poverty. However, there is no reason to cheer yet as these Asian countries are not doing very well in terms of creating new job opportunities. This is another major problem for the region. I am quoting from a report published in the Hindu:

“A new study conducted by the International Labour Organisation has warned that unemployment will become more acute in South Asia in the next decade as the labour force in the region is expected to grow by around 2.1 per cent a year.

Because of the growth in labour force, 14 million more people will be added to the labour market by 2015, as per a report on labour and social trends in South Asia.

The report says the most rapid increase will be in countries with the greatest number of working poor and the largest informal economies such as Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan, and slowest in Sri Lanka.”

This sad reality clearly shows that Asian governments need to take the issue of unemployment very seriously. Indian economy is growing but the job market in India is not growing. Jobless growth has already become a cause of concern for the decision makers in India. I just hope that it does not spread to neighboring Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Personally, I am passionate about Asia and with all my heart I wish that Asia becomes the leader in everything. However, this sad reality does not make me too much optimistic. Unfortunately, Asian leaders are yet to take the problems of extreme poverty, population growth and unemployment problem seriously.