Poverty reduction remains tough job for Asia-Pacific countries

Far from the brightly lit sky scrappers and the ostentatious display wealthy in Asia's booming cities, the Wang family -- led by their patriarch, 67-year-old Wang Yingchang, toil on the family plot, planting corn, buckwheat and millet in China's landlocked Yunnan Province.

Despite their backbreaking efforts, the proud farmers' harvest lasts the family of four only six months, the rest of the year they rely on government assistance for their survival.

Every inch of Wang's land, in a remote valley village at the foot of Ailaoshan Mountain in Yunnan, is carefully cultivated.

The family no doubt would take little solace if they knew that their near-destitution is shared by millions of other families throughout rural Asia.

Many other Asia-Pacific nations including India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal face similar situations in their respective countrysides, said Liu Jian, director of the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development.

While Asia-Pacific region is widely recognized as one of the most economically dynamic regions in the world, Liu told a recent international symposium on poverty and international cooperation held in the city of Chengdu, that the newly created wealth is not trickling down to where its most needed.

"The benefits of the economic boom have not been spread fairly among all the people. Poverty remains one of the major issues as two thirds of the world's needy population are in the Asia-Pacific region," he said, noting that the region's economy has grown at an annual rate of at least 7 percent in recent years.

Liu says the poverty relief work of Asia-Pacific nations are vitally important to the world and to the United Nations if it is to meet its so-called millennium development goals. At the turn of the century the United Nations tried to rally the world by listing eight millennium development goals, the first of which is the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger.

In a survey of 100 poverty-stricken counties across China last year, the State Council's Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development found about 36.4 percent of households suffered from food shortages.

By the end of last year, China estimated that 23.65 million people who earned less than 680 yuan (85 U.S. dollars) a year, lived in absolute poverty. If the internationally-accepted poverty line of one U.S. dollar per day is used, the country's poverty population is 120 million to 130 million,

Some obvious successes have been achieved by the region's governments in lowering poverty rates. China, the world's most populous developing nation, reduced its abject poverty population by at least 100 million between 1985 to 2005. India's needy people make up 20 percent of its population today, compared with 50 percent at the end of 1970s.

"But in many Asian countries, poverty reduction remains a tough job," said Wen Defu, a specialist with the South Asia Institute of Sichuan University. He told the international conference that "Economic development alone does not necessarily eliminate poverty in a fast growing population, but it has created a widening income gap."

The poverty problem continues to plague the world's most populous country despite heavy investment which is committed to doing even more. The Chinese government allocated 13.4 billion yuan (1.675 billion U.S. dollars) to poverty reduction and the amount will increase in the future, said poverty specialist Liu.

Wen said countries need to share their poverty reduction experiences to open new fronts on the world's war on poverty. "Many Asia-Pacific nations have gained insight into the process of alleviating poverty. They have accelerated the anti-poverty drive."

The conference ended with an announcement that a research center for poverty reduction in western China has been established. It will bring together experts in geography, the humanities, engineering and medical services. The center is sponsored by the UN Development Program, the World Bank and Sichuan University.

Source: Xinhua