WORLD BANK / EAST ASIA GROWTH

East Asia economies are projected to grow by 7.8 percent this year, outpacing last year’s growth and potentially boosting the world economy, according to a new report by the World Bank Group.  But a Bank official said in order to maintain sustained long term growth, East Asia governments must create jobs and improve infrastructure. WORLD BANK

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:02:21
• Production Date: 15 April 2013
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: WORLD BANK
• Subject Topical: ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT; FINANCING; ECONOMIC CONDITIONS
• MAMS Id: U130415f

Description

STORY: WORLD BANK / EAST ASIA GROWTH
TRT: 2.21
SOURCE: WORLD BANK
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

DATELINE: 14 APRIL 2013, World Bank Headquarters, Washington, D.C.

Shotlist

FILE – RECENT, WORLD BANK HEADQUARTERS, WASHINGTON D.C.

1. Exterior, World Bank Headquarters, Washington D.C.

14 APRIL 2013, World Bank Headquarters, Washington, D.C.

2. Wide shot, Axel Van Trostenburg, Regional Vice President, The World Bank, in side the studio
3. Data slide, “East Asia Pacific - 40 percent global growth”
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Axel Van Trostenburg, Regional Vice President, The World Bank:
“The good news in East Asia is that the economies are growing stronger than last year. We are projecting 7.8 percent of growth this year. This is better than last year and it’s good news for the world economy.”
5. Data slide, “East Asia Pacific 7.3 percent/ 7.8 percent”
6. Cutaway, Trostenburg in the studio
7. Data slide, “7.8 percent/8.3 percent”
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Axel Van Trostenburg, Regional Vice President, The World Bank:
“Last year in China we saw some softening of growth and as a result Chinese authorities took measures in during the second half. Now they are all having the effect on the economy and we are now expecting growth of about 8.3 percent for 2013.”
9. Data slide, “China 7.8 percent/8.3 percent”
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Axel Van Trostenburg, Regional Vice President, The World Bank:
“China is the second largest economy in the world and as a result has worldwide effect but especially within the region it has a strong growth-enhancing effect when the Chinese economy is doing well.”
11. Cutaway, Trostenburg in the studio
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Axel Van Trostenburg, Regional Vice President, The World Bank:
“Looking at the longer term agenda, governments will need to pay a lot of attention to labor market development, training people and creating good jobs, which are essential for long term development. At the same time, there are infrastructure gaps. Infrastructure gaps are in many countries considerable; hence require government’s ways and means to narrow that infrastructure gap. That can be done through public investment but most of the investments will have to come from private investment. And therefore private sector development is essential so that you can attract the necessary investments in those areas.”
13. Cutaway, Trostenburg in the studio

Storyline

Driven by strong domestic demand, economies of developing East Asia and Pacific continue to be an engine of global growth, growing at 7.5 percent in 2012 -- higher than any other region in the world, says the World Bank in its latest analysis of the regional economy. As the global economy recovers, the report, released today, projects that regional growth will rise moderately to 7.8 percent in 2013 and ease to 7.6 percent in 2014.

SOUNDBITE (English) Axel Van Trostenburg, Regional Vice President, The World Bank:
“The good news in East Asia is that the economies are growing stronger than last year. We are projecting 7.8 percent of growth this year. This is better than last year and it’s good news for the world economy.”

Fiscal and monetary policies to boost consumption and investment helped sustain growth in 2012 across the region, with middle-income countries performing particularly well. Developing economies excluding China grew 6.2 percent in 2012, up from 4.5 percent in 2011.

In China, growth slowed to 7.8 percent in 2012 due to rebalancing efforts, while real disposable income of urban households rose by more than 9 percent, supporting household consumption, which contributed 4.4 percentage points to GDP growth. China is projected to grow 8.3 percent in 2013 and 8.0 percent in 2014.

SOUNDBITE (English) Axel Van Trostenburg, Regional Vice President, The World Bank:
“Last year in China we saw some softening of growth and as a result Chinese authorities took measures in during the second half. Now they are all having the effect on the economy and we are now expecting growth of about 8.3 percent for 2013.”

Trostenburg explained that “China is the second largest economy in the world and as a result has worldwide effect but especially within the region it has a strong growth-enhancing effect when the Chinese economy is doing well.”

In terms of the “longer term agenda,” Trostenburg said that “governments will need to pay a lot of attention to labor market development, training people and creating good jobs, which are essential for long term development. At the same time, there are infrastructure gaps. Infrastructure gaps are in many countries considerable; hence require government’s ways and means to narrow that infrastructure gap. That can be done through public investment but most of the investments will have to come from private investment. And therefore private sector development is essential so that you can attract the necessary investments in those areas.”

Risks emanating from the Eurozone and the U.S. have declined since the middle of last year. The World Bank’s baseline projections for global growth are for a modest expansion of 2.4 percent in 2013 and a gradual strengthening to 3.0 percent in 2014.