Economic Development in Asia

~Economic Development in Asian Developing Countries~

In recent years, Asian developing countries has been achieving dramatic economic growth and their GDP is becoming higher and higher every year. However, on the other hand, it is also the fact that some Asian developing countries are still in difficult situation and suffering from poverty, hunger or poor education. It is doubtful that these countries have achieved “economic development”. In this paper, I would like to talk about the concept of economic development and how successful developing countries in Asia have been in achieving economic development. Not only that but also, I would like to discuss some great challenges which Asian developing countries are facing in its development such as climate change, transition to democracy and HIV/AIDS. I also would like to refer to the role of Japanese NGOs/NPOs in contributing to development in Asian countries.

Firstly, I would like to discuss what economic development is. Economic development is to fight against poverty. There are a lot of those who think that poverty simply means that people doesn’t have enough money to live. However, the definition of poverty is more complex. Actually, there are two definitions of poverty, which are income poverty and multidimensional poverty. According to the World Bank which is the organization measuring income poverty, those who live on less than $1.25 are considered as extreme poverty. However, as I mentioned just now, low income is not all about poverty. In addition to income poverty, people in developing countries are suffering from various types of poverty. In other words, poverty in developing countries is likely to have multi-dimensions. The poor in developing countries are suffering from many deprivations in addition to low income, such as hunger, no political freedom, poor education and lack of access to clean drinking water. For example, in Cambodia, the average literacy rate of those who are over fifteen...