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5 - Peoples of the MekongFigure 11. Income disparities, 2000Source: ADB 20023.3 Dimensions of poverty in the LMBPoverty is widespread and pervasive throughout the Lower Mekong Basin. Poverty is multidimensional– poor people lack a wide range of livelihood assets and opportunities as well as income.Poverty reduction is a priority in the socio-economic development policies of all the countries in theLMB, making the reporting of data on all dimensions of poverty an important objective.Incidence of poverty. Towards 40 percent of the populations of Cambodia, Lao PDR and VietNam live below the poverty line. v In the Northeast Region of Thailand, 19 percent of the populationis below the poverty line; 121 this accounts for 62 percent ofpoverty in Thailand. 122 Between 1993 and 1998, economicgrowth in Viet Nam and Lao PDR contributed to significantreductions in poverty levels. In 2000, continued growth inViet Nam was estimated to have lowered poverty levels toabout 32 percent. w However, in Cambodia, despite economicgrowth, poverty declined only marginally between 1994 and1999. 123 In Thailand, since 1997, the regional financial crisishas contributed to an increase in the poverty rate from 11.4percent to 15.9 percent.Employment creation is crucial.In Cambodia alone, an estimated200,000 young people enter the labourmarket each yearThroughout the LMB, the average poor household’s incomefalls below the poverty line by a relatively small percentage.This poverty gap x is, in general, less than 10 percent and themajority of the poor are clustered near the poverty line.This means that positive economic growth and other policychanges can readily contribute to raising the incomes of poorhouseholds above the poverty line. At the same time, manyhouseholds are not far above the poverty line and could fallbelow due to economic slowdowns, natural disasters andvwxThe international consumption-based poverty line is defined as the level of resources (income and/or ownproduction)required to ensure a daily per capita 2,100-calorie food basket plus a small allowance for nonfoodexpenditure. Measuring poverty in terms of consumption rather than income is considered to be morereliable and to reflect more accurately the levels of need of poor households.In 2001, the Government of Viet Nam introduced a new poverty line based on per capita income: VND80,000 per month for island and rural mountain areas; VND 100,000 per month for rural plain areas; VND150,000 per month for urban areas (Socialist Republic of Viet Nam 2001). Using the new national povertyline, the estimated poverty level at the end of 2001 is 16 percent (ADB 2002).Poverty gap measures the depth of poverty, that is, the average distance people are below the poverty line,as a percentage of the poverty line.65