Full Report - Subregional Office for East and North-East Asia - escap

INVESTING IN INCLUSIVE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 4
4
INVESTING IN INCLUSIVE AND
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
We have to summon the imagination to balance
the costs that we will incur in the present
with the benefits that will accrue
to future generations.
Manmohan Singh,
Prime Minister of the Republic of India
Fostering inclusive and sustainable development will require greater
and sustained development-oriented investment. This chapter provides
illustrative estimates of the investment and expenditure requirements
of 10 countries in the Asia-Pacific region to sustain developmentoriented
public investments in six key areas: (i) employment for all;
(ii) income security for the elderly; (iii) income security for persons
with disabilities; (iv) health for all; (v) education for all; and (vi)
energy access for all. The analysis finds that most countries can
finance such a package without jeopardizing macroeconomic stability,
although least developed countries would find it challenging to raise
the required resources domestically.
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