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Apart from China s Bo Xilai political scandal, the big news inAsia this week is what didn t happen: An 8.6 magnitude earthquakeoff the coast of Indonesia on Wednesday didn t cause a tsunami, sparing countries around the Indian Ocean a repeat of the Boxing Day disaster of2004, when 220,000 people died from a series of devastating tidalwaves. Although the airport on the Thai tourist island of Phuketclosed after the quake, and there was a power outage in Aceh,Indonesia, few injuries were suffered, and the situation returnedto normal within a few hours. We are very lucky, says RajivBiswas, Asia-Pacific chief economist for IHS Global Insight inSingapore. For Southeast Asia s economies, the near miss provides much-neededrelief. The region is highly vulnerable to earthquakes, volcanoes,and other disasters. Thailand, for instance, suffered from massivefloods last year that inundated factories near Bangkok; because ofthe deluge, the Thai economy grew just 0.1 percent in 2011.Southeast Asia has shown resilience, though. Even with the debtcrisis in Europe, the sluggish economy in the U.S., and a slowing economy in China hurting export markets, the region is poised to enjoystronger growth. Southeast Asia s economy will likely grow 5.2percent this year, according to the Manila-based Asian DevelopmentBank, up from 4.6 percent last year. The Philippines is enjoyingstrong export growth, with shipments in February jumping 14.6percent year-on-year to $4.43 billion, the government s NationalStatistics Office reported on Thursday. Economists had beenexpecting an increase of just 1.7 percent, according to a survey byBloomberg News. Even Thailand is doing well. The country is recovering from thefloods, and the ADB predicts the country s GDP will increase 5.5percent this year. We are looking at a complete rebound of growthin the first quarter, says Moody s Analytics Katrina Ell, anassociate economist in Sydney. We expect them to bounce backquite strongly. As they prepare for the next natural disaster, Asian policy makersneed to pay more attention to man-made problems, the ADB contends . Developing countries in Asia have achieved major progress infighting poverty, the bank reported on Wednesday. Over the past 2decades, developing Asia has reduced poverty faster than any otherregion of the world, at any time in history, according to theADB s report. The gap between rich and poor, however, is growingin the region, even as Latin America and other parts of thedeveloping world enjoy falling inequality. Rising income inequality threatens the basis for the long-termgrowth by undermining social cohesion and worsening the quality ofgovernance, and also increasing pressure for more populistpolicies, Changyong Rhee, the ADB s chief economist, told Bloomberg Television on Wednesday. How to make Asian economic growth more inclusiveand address income inequality is a new challenge that Asian policymakers have to confront. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as Double wall Bundy Tube , Steel Bundy Tube, and more. For more , please visit Evaporator Tube today!
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