ANKARA
A United Nations economic and social survey on Asia and the Pacific estimated slow growth in Asia-Pacific in 2013 due to uncertainty in policies of the developed nations.
"Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2013" was held by United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) in 37 locations, 28 which were in the Asia Pacific region. The survey was released on Thursday at UN's office in Turkish capital, Ankara.
UN ESCAP expert Alberto Isgut and Associate Professor at Bilkent University Selin Sayek Boke delivered separate presentations regarding the survey and Turkey's positioning in the economy of the region.
The survey estimated that the economic growth was projected to inch up to 6 percent in 2013, despite an average of 7.8 percent of growth rate among developing countries of Asia and the Pacific in the 2010-2011.
The survey said the economic growth in the region's developing countries slowed to 5.6 percent in 2012 due to the double-dip recession in the Euro zone and the tepid recovery of the US economy.
Isgut focused on the policy challenges and structural impediments of the survey, saying that the uncertain global environment such as the fiscal crisis in the Euro zone and the policy uncertainty in the US had had impacts on Asia-Pacific such as decreasing economic activity through trade.
Isgut added that another policy challenge would be a regional slowdown.
"Improvement was expected in India in 2012, however, there was a drop more than what was overseen, and now, they expect a recovery in India this year," Isgut said.
Isgut said that as the current largest individual export market for the rest of the region, China's slowdown would affect the entire region, adding that about 50 percent of the imports of intermediate goods to China were sourced from developing Asia-Pacific economies and Japan.
The survey said the economic insecurity had also risen amid rapid growth as the region's more than 1 billion workers faced low wages, with no benefits or job security, and difficult working conditions that undermined basic and fundamental labor rights.
Isgut said the income inequality in the entire region had increased from 33.5 percent in the 1990s to 37.5 percent in the latest available year, adding that structural impediments such as growing inequality was threatening shared prosperity and constraining domestic markets as lack of progressivity in taxing and insufficient provisioning was contributing to inequality.
Over Turkey's role in the Asia-Pacific region, Bilkent University Associate Professor Sayek said growth in Turkey was slowing down as the global economy was weakening again.
She said Turkey's monetary policies affected the value of Turkish lira in early 2012 which had an negative effect on the growth rate of the country.
Moreover, the Syria crisis and political instability in other Middle Eastern countries had an adverse impact on Turkish economy too, she said.
Sayek cited the rapid increase in Turkey's current account deficit in recent years as a serious concern about its sustainability.
She said that drop in private consumption and private investments caused a sharp slowdown in Turkey's GDP growth in 2012, underlining that the decrease in private investments especially in the fourth quarter of 2012 was a negative signal for the period of 2013.
