Governments in Asia and the Pacific are increasingly recognizing the urgency for adopting strategies that promote more inclusive economic growth. Poverty has plunged in some countries in the past two decades, but its elimination in the region is unfinished business, with hundreds of millions still living in abject conditions. At the same time, income inequality has risen more than 20% in the last 20 years. This could hinder further poverty reduction and threaten sustained growth.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) introduced inclusive growth in 2008 as one of its complementary strategic agendas under Strategy 2020, along with environmentally sustainable growth and regional integration.
Has ADB’s inclusive growth strategy become an operational reality? What challenges remain and how can ADB further increase inclusion?
