ASEAN Secretary-General Lim Jock Hoi (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – Closing the productivity gap in ASEAN will make theregion more competitive as ASEAN integration continuesto bring down trade barriers to support capital, goods, and labour movementwithin the region, said ASEAN Secretary-General Lim Jock Hoi.
Speaking at the plenary session of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) BusinessSummit in Hanoi on March 30, the ASEAN leader emphasised the need to addressinfrastructure bottlenecks in the region, both physical and soft infrastructure.
Infrastructure is critical to sustain economic growth and productivity inASEAN, he said, adding that it is estimated that the region needs around 110billion USD to its finance its various infrastructure requirements forsustainable economic growth.
Various initiatives are underway to promote infrastructure development in theregion, including the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity (MPAC). But more isneeded. Aside from the challenges arising from weak regulatory framework,poorly structured projects and lack of capacity, financing infrastructure iscritical.
While the public financing remains important, the private sector can be tappedas alternative sources of financing infrastructure investments. Modalities suchas public-private partnerships can be further strengthened, while other innovativefinancing mechanisms such as using spill over revenues to supportinfrastructure investments by the private sector can be explored.
“There is a need toleverage on the power of digital economy,” he noted, saying that while ASEANcontinues to benefit from digital transformation, understanding the digitaleconomy remains a challenge because of its complexity.
ASEAN also needs to further invest in the region’s human capital, he said. Humancapital has always been an important asset to firms and countries.
“But equally important is the ability of our human capital to learn new skillsand adapt to the changing environment,” he stated.
Some of the major challenges facing rapid technological change are redundancyof industrial or unskilled labour and the lack of skills related to digitaltechnology. As such, education and training systems need to evolve and fosterflexibility and adaptability to help people adjust to the changing skillsdemand.
In closing, he reiterated the importance of addressingproductivity improvement in ASEAN, saying this is an important challenge ifASEAN is to sustain economic development in the coming years.
With this greater challenge, the private sectorwill be playing an important role, particularly in closing the productivitygap. The need for productivity improvement creates more opportunities forcompanies to invest in new infrastructure and projects that will help eachindividual economy to explore activities that enhance productive capacity, headded.
The GMS Business Summit was part of the 6th GMS Summit and the 10th Cambodia-Laos-Cambodia Summit on Development Triangle Area (CLV-10) takingplace in Hanoi from March 29-31.-VNA
VNA
