UNESCO SCIENCE REPORT

UNESCO SCIENCE REPORT
Figure 27.2: Trends in GDP growth in Southeast Asia and Oceania, 2005–2013
80
70
71.8
71.0
68.8
60
60.5
56.0
54.3
52.9
Cumulative growth, 2005–2013
Growth in 2008–2009
50
48.4
47.2
40
30
27.2
35.3
20
10
0
15.3
6.3
12.8
11.1
1.2
-10
-20
Lao PDR
Timor-Leste
Cambodia
Papua New Guinea
Viet Nam
Singapore
Indonesia
Solomon Islands
Philippines
Malaysia
Vanuatu
Thailand
Australia
Samoa
Marshall Islands
New Zealand
Tuvalu
Kiribati
10.6
Fiji
2.4
Tonga
Micronesia
Palau
32.2
25.9
5.3
3.3
9.8
0.2
5.4
14.6
18.6
17.0
0.3
15.5
43.5
3.6
12.9
2.1
12.3
8.3
4.1
-3.8
-3.7
-0.4
-0.6
-1.6
-1.2
-16.3
Note: For Timor-Leste, the most recent data are for 2012, not 2013.
Source: World Bank’s World Development Indicators, April 2015
Strong growth in internet access since 2010 has levelled out
the disparity between countries to some extent, although
connectivity remained extremely low in the Solomon Islands
(8%), Cambodia (6%), Papua New Guinea (6.5%), Myanmar
(1.2%) and Timor-Leste (1.1% ) in 2013 (Figure 27.3).
Advances in mobile phone technology have clearly been a
factor in the provision of internet access to remote areas.
The flow of knowledge and information through internet
is likely to play an important role in the more effective
dissemination and application of knowledge across the
vast Pacific Island nations and least developed countries of
Southeast Asia.
Political change at national and regional levels
Thailand has been experiencing political instability for
the past five years, culminating in a military coup in 2014
and erratic economic growth. Indonesia, by contrast, has
enjoyed a period of comparative stability with economic
growth of about 4% on average since 2010; the government
elected in 2014 has introduced a number of fiscal and
structural reforms designed to encourage investment (World
Bank, 2014). These reforms should help accelerate business
R&D, which was already showing solid growth in 2010.
Myanmar has been undergoing a period of democratic
reform since 2011, which has prompted the easing of
international sanctions. The return of US and European
Union (EU) trade privileges has already generated significant
investment growth across many sectors. A foreign
investment law passed in 2012, followed in January 2014
by a Special Economic Zone Law, provides incentives for
export-oriented industries. Myanmar’s geostrategic location
between India and China, coupled with the creation of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Economic
Community in 2015, has led the Asian Development Bank to
predict an 8% growth rate per year for Myanmar through the
next decade.
Australia’s incoming government in September 2013
coincided with a steep decline in the value of its natural
resources, as demand for minerals eased in China and
elsewhere. As a consequence, the new government sought
to reduce public spending, in order to balance its 2014–2015
budget. Science and technology were among the many
casualties of this cost-cutting exercise. On 17 June 2015,
Australia signed a free trade agreement with China which
removes almost all import duties. ‘It is the highest degree
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