Izah Azahari
Economic growth and sustainability goals for the region cannot be achieved by working alone “and in silos”, said Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office and Minister of Finance and Economy II Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Haji Mohd Amin Liew bin Abdullah during the launch of the Brunei Business Conference 2023 yesterday.
During his keynote address, the minister said as the world recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, new challenges continue to affect the global economic outlook.
This includes the interplay between the emergence of COVID-19 variants, the geopolitical tension, the energy crisis, food insecurity, persistent inflation, cost of living crisis, the debt crisis, the recent financial sector panic and extreme weather events.
“We are still not quite out of the woods just yet,” said the minister. “If anything, the world has become much more fragile than ever before, which has disrupted the momentum in global economic recovery and can reverse the gains from decades of economic growth and development,” he added.
He noted the United World Economic Situation and Prospects 2023 report predicted a sharp deceleration of economic growth from three per cent in 2022 to just 1.9 per cent in 2023, making it one of the lowest growth rates in recent decades.
“The World Bank has also warned of a possible ‘lost decade’ for the world economy, with global economic growth possibly dropping to a three-decade low of 2.2 per cent per year until 2030.
“And the International Monetary Fund has forecasted weak global medium-term growth prospects, with an average annual rate of about three per cent over the next five years, compared to an average of 3.8 per cent over the past two decades,” said the minister.
“However, despite the sombre forecasts for global growth this year, the Asia-Pacific region is expected to experience dynamic growth and contribute more than 70 per cent to global economic growth in 2023,” said the minister.
He stressed the importance of rethinking development strategies to not only recover economically stronger, but also ensure that economies will be better equipped to thrive amid shocks, volatility and uncertainty.
The minister also called for renewed efforts in ensuring sustainable development in the agenda.
“Our region is one of the most at-risk areas from the impacts of climate change, given its highly-populated coastlines, a large agricultural sectors and such.
“All these goals, however cannot be achieved by working alone and in silos. It calls for a greater role of multi-stakeholder engagement, support and collaboration.
“By harnessing the diversity of knowledge and expertise from different stakeholders, we gain creativity and innovation to yield newer, ingenious and innovative solutions,” said the minister.
