SHAPING THE FUTURE HOW CHANGING DEMOGRAPHICS CAN POWER HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

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Essential strategies to boost businesses should incentivize new ventures, remove regulatory barriers and streamline legal processes 68 business. Women’s participation can be increased by removing red tape, enhancing gender-equitable property rights, facilitating broader access to credit for women and providing business management training. Laws need to be free of gender discrimination, and, as important, be implemented, including in the face of remaining discriminatory stereotypes and norms. Promote a business-friendly environment: Governments can help businesses flourish by enacting and implementing policies that lower costs, incentivize new ventures, remove regulatory barriers and enhance the efficiency of legal processes. The cost of starting and maintaining a business in Asia-Pacific is still very high. Options to reduce it include eliminating minimum capital requirements, creating one-stop shops for paperwork, and increasing use of centralized databases and technology to manage transactions with a greater degree of transparency and accountability, among others. 30 This process also needs to maintain standards consistent with internationally agreed norms, such as those to protect workers and uphold environmental sustainability. Expand trade networks: Asia-Pacific countries lag behind in reducing non-tariff trade barriers, which reduces competitiveness. It takes 33 days to complete an export transaction in South Asia, compared to 21 days in East Asia and 11 days in OECD high-income countries. 31 Goods often spend more time at borders than in transport from the source to the destination, suggesting that paperwork and customs regulations are still complex. In a world where speed, certainty and efficiency in delivery are highly valued, countries are losing opportunities to enter export markets. Many need to invest in soft infrastructure, such as customs automation and one-stop windows at border checkpoints, in addition to building better roads, railways and ports to facilitate seamless trade. Cultivating stronger trade links could be a strategic step towards increasing access to markets and growing businesses that can boost job growth. If all countries in South Asia were to improve customs efficiency to the level in East Asia and the Pacific, exports could increase by 11 percent on average for the region. 32 Given Asia-Pacific’s huge population, there is large potential for regional trade expansion. Several regional connectivity initiatives are underway, such as the South Asian Subregional Economic Cooperation programme to facilitate trade and transit among Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal. Successful implementation of a motor vehicle movement agreement currently being negotiated among these countries could spur trade in local agricultural products, processed food and manufactured goods, and expand the shipping and services industries. Increased overland trade and the development of economic corridors could stimulate new enterprises, local markets, livelihoods and job growth in less-connected regions and rural areas, as well as ports and border towns, reducing economic disparities linked to geographical location. PROTECT WORKERS’ RIGHTS Some of the key priorities of the Sustainable Development Goals are to create decent jobs, eliminate poverty and minimize inequality. Since labour is the principal asset of the poor, jobs are the primary avenue for them to attain higher standards of living. A number of challenges currently stand in the way. Informal sector employment and working poverty remain prevalent in Asia-Pacific, and more people are looking outside of their home countries to find opportunities to thrive. Countries need to reach out to workers in vulnerable employment, protect them from exploitation, and uphold their rights and privileges. Protect workers in informal and vulnerable employment: While a vibrant informal economy keeps a large number of low-wage workers employed, such employment leads to many problems, such as the inability to protect workers’ rights. Workers in the informal sector are employed without appropriate paperwork and social security, and are highly susceptible to exploitation. They typically earn very low wages; work in poor, unsafe conditions; receive limited or no benefits; and have no job security. Labour laws are framed with only the formal sector in mind, which can lead to informal sector workers having no protections against non-payment of wages, forced overtime work, and abuse or health risks at work.
TABLE 2.4: Shares of workers in the informal economy are still large in some countries Source: ILO 2014b. Note: The agricultural sector is not included in this data. China is represented with only a few cities, namely, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shenyang, Wuhan and Xian. The proportion of people working in informal employment varies considerably across countries, reaching 42 percent of workers in Thailand, but 84 percent in India (Table 2.4). 33 One important incentive for firms to operate in the informal economy is financial—costs are lower without paying taxes and complying with formal registration and regulatory requirements. For firms to choose to operate within the formal sector, governments need to create financial incentives, such as by extending the outreach of capital and loans, particularly to micro- and small enterprises, or by providing tax breaks. For the first time in 2015, the International Labour Organization (ILO) adopted labour standards that can protect workers in the informal economy. Countries have collectively recognized that people work in the informal sector not merely by choice, but due to a lack of opportunities in the formal sector. In the developing world, approximately 90 percent of small and medium enterprises operate informally. At the heart of the ILO standards is the idea that full, decent, productive employment needs to be created in the formal sector. While countries are working towards this goal, however, measures should be taken to uphold the rights of those still in informal employment. These include the rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining, elimination of compulsory labour, abolition of child labour, and adherence to regulations that protect workers’ health and safety. Health-care and pension benefits in Asia-Pacific currently cover only a small portion of formal sector workers. If governments were to design social security programmes for the informal sector, there would be an enormous challenge to identify and reach people. Despite the complexities and potential costs, however, the large number of informal sector workers cannot be ignored, given the implications for economic productivity, as well as human development and human rights. Besides bringing more informal sector workers to the formal sector, it is imperative for governments to extend social protection outreach to informal sector workers. Managing outreach might build on national ID card systems, as for example, is currently underway in India. A range of workers in Asia-Pacific struggle with extreme deprivation. These include some internally displaced people, migrants, child workers, and people in risky or menial jobs such as construction and domestic service. Many are deeply mired in poverty with very limited social protection and access to legal protection, although some countries have begun taking steps to close these gaps (Box 2.4). Nearly three in five workers, around 1.1 billion, in Asia-Pacific developing economies were in vulnerable employment in 2012, with the highest proportion in South Asia at 76 percent (Table 2.5). A major challenge remains to target and reach out to those who are most deprived. TABLE 2.5: Vulnerable employment is most pervasive in South Asia Source: ILO 2014b. The rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining should be upheld, along with safety regulations 69
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ASIA-PACIFIC HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPO
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ASIA-PACIFIC HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPO
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FOREWORD We live in times of great
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Asia-Pacific H
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Table of Contents Foreword iii Pref
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1.15 Population age-composition is
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Acronyms ADB Asian Development Bank
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Overview SHAPING THE FUTURE: HOW CH
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HUMAN DEVELOPMENT IN ASIA-PACIFIC:
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FIGURE 2: Wealthier countries tend
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a strong emphasis on protecting wor
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could provide job matching assistan
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Asia-Pacific leave the workforce at
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WHAT’S AHEAD IN THIS REPORT This
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Chapter 1 HOW CHANGING DEMOGRAPHICS
Page 32 and 33: sustainable, reaching everyone whil
Page 34 and 35: FIGURE 1.1: The Human Development I
Page 36 and 37: TABLE 1.1: Asia-Pacific still has l
Page 38 and 39: married couples to have children, a
Page 40 and 41: FIGURE 1.5: Population pyramids in
Page 42 and 43: FIGURE 1.8: The median age is high
Page 44 and 45: FIGURE 1.10: Disparities in fertili
Page 46 and 47: Improved overall human development
Page 48 and 49: TABLE 1.5: Countries in Asia-Pacifi
Page 50 and 51: “When relatively large generation
Page 52 and 53: 38 Having fewer dependents on worki
Page 54 and 55: 40 In developed Asia- Pacific, the
Page 56 and 57: TABLE 1.6: Demographic dividends fl
Page 58 and 59: 44
Page 61 and 62: 2. MORE PEOPLE AT WORK: THE FOUNDAT
Page 63 and 64: encouraged labour-intensive industr
Page 65 and 66: FIGURE 2.3: Peaks within subregions
Page 67 and 68: A DEMOGRAPHIC RETURN FOR HUMAN DEVE
Page 69 and 70: BOX 2.1: Women bear a larger burden
Page 71 and 72: FIGURE 2.8: Growth in labour produc
Page 73 and 74: WHAT’S BEEN LEARNED IN CHINA, JAP
Page 75 and 76: FIGURE 2.13: Japan is past its work
Page 77 and 78: FIGURE 2.15: Thailand still has tim
Page 79 and 80: make this a key aim of national dev
Page 81: investment climate, as well as enco
Page 85 and 86: Even before leaving home, migrant w
Page 87 and 88: Promote health and safety at work:
Page 89 and 90: BOX 2.8: Malaysia transforms an ind
Page 91 and 92: of resilient infrastructure are joi
Page 93: Chapter 3 NURTURING CHILDREN, UNLOC
Page 96 and 97: Asia-Pacific is home to 1.7 billion
Page 98 and 99: Commendable progress in education m
Page 100 and 101: Quality primary education mitigates
Page 102 and 103: In most Asia-Pacific countries, sec
Page 104 and 105: Strong tertiary education is a buil
Page 106 and 107: FIGURE 3.3: Access to tertiary educ
Page 108 and 109: 94 TABLE 3.9: Youth illiteracy has
Page 110 and 111: TABLE 3.11: Child mortality rates b
Page 112 and 113: BOX 3.7: Malnutrition and disabilit
Page 114 and 115: Despite social and economic progres
Page 116 and 117: FIGURE 3.8: The share of youth who
Page 118 and 119: 104 Young migrants are highly vulne
Page 120 and 121: as an important challenge. But they
Page 122 and 123: TABLE 3.15: Some countries with lar
Page 124 and 125: Immunization saves children’s liv
Page 126 and 127: BOX 3.10: Germany’s vocational tr
Page 128 and 129: BOX 3.12: Partnering with youth in
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4. AGEING SOCIETIES: NEW OPPORTUNIT
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FIGURE 4.1: Asia-Pacific is one of
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TABLE 4.1: East Asia is the oldest
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BOX 4.2: Responses to poverty among
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BOX 4.3: A plan of action for older
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FIGURE 4.9: Per capita health-care
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BOX 4.5: China moves towards univer
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TABLE 4.3: Social pensions are an i
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FIGURE 4.12: Pension replacement ra
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BOX 4.7: Increasing links between p
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cupy space in some public buildings
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ment bodies, encourage regular inte
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BOX 4.9: Ageing countries begin enc
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help coordinate the work of other g
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for older people. Many advanced cou
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action. Free public transport, and
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Chapter 5 TAPPING THE HUMAN DYNAMIS
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In the last 30 years, Asia-Pacific
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FIGURE 5.3: Even countries with few
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FIGURE 5.6: Most people will contin
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160 Social, cultural and economic i
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The benefits of urbanization have n
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BOX 5.2: Pioneering urban poverty r
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vehicles on the road. Beijing issue
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Municipal governments in Asia-Pacif
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TABLE 5.4: Revenue mobilization opt
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172 City governments need to have t
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Investing in essential infrastructu
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176 in East Asian cities, and occur
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BOX 5.9: The Republic of Korea emba
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180
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6. AN AGENDA FOR ACTION: SHAPING TH
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Development Report argues, decent w
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with ministries overseeing youth, e
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This is an urgent priority in a reg
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SUSTAINING HUMAN DEVELOPMENT ACROSS
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plan automatically enrols people in
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BOX 6.3: Developing Delhi’s metro
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End Notes CHAPTER 1 1. UNFPA 2014b.
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63. WHO 2014b. 64. UNFPA 2012. 65.
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produces 40 percent of total econom
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206 The Asia Foundation. 2013. “T
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208 CODI (Community Organizations D
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210 Global Migration Group. 2014.
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212 Janwani. 2010. “Annual Report
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214 ———. 2012a. OECD Employme
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216 ———. 2011. “Follow-up t
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218 York. [www.unfpa.org/sites/defa
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———. 2012c. Malaysia Economic
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tables include the Caribbean countr
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224
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TABLE 2: Trends in the Human Develo
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TABLE 4: Gender Inequality Index 22
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TABLE 6: Trends in income poverty,
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TABLE 8: Fertility rate and crude d
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TABLE 10: Trends and share of child
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TABLE 12: Trends and share of young
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TABLE 14: Trends and share of older
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TABLE 16: Education indicators and
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TABLE 17: Health indicators 242
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TABLE 18: Employment and unemployme
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TABLE 19: International trade, fina
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ABOUT ASIA-PACIFIC HUMAN DEVELOPMEN
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