Developing countries in Asia and the Pacific are finding it harder to increase public investments to accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals. In addition to higher public debt levels, government borrowing costs have risen with shorter loan maturities in recent years. The 2024 edition of the UN’s Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific examines how policymakers in the region and the international community can boost the availability of affordable and long-term financing for governments.
Among others, experts at the launch of the Survey will present key findings and further address:
- How can Asia-Pacific economies weather near-term economic headwinds?
- What is needed to increase the region’s tax collection potential and thus reduce borrowing costs?
- What changes in the operations of donors, multilateral development banks and credit rating agencies can help boost long-term development financing?
- How are demographic shifts, climate change and technological advancements changing the fiscal policymaking landscape?
NOTE TO EDITOR: Members of the media are invited to participate in the launch event and press briefing. Interviews with ESCAP experts and embargo copies of the report are also available upon request.
What: Launch of the Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2024
When: Thursday, 4 April 2024, 10:30 – 11:30 a.m. (UTC+7)
Where: In-person at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand, Penthouse, Maneeya Centre, Ploenchit Road, Bangkok and online via ZOOM
Register your in-person/online attendance: https://forms.office.com/e/cT53uzsZmL
Key speakers:
- Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)
- Veerathai Santiprabhob, Former Governor of the Bank of Thailand
- Hamza Ali Malik, Director of the Macroeconomic Policy and Financing for Development Division, ESCAP
- Vatcharin Sirimaneetham, Chief of the Macroeconomic Policy and Analysis Section, ESCAP
For more information: https://unescap.org/events/2024/survey2024-launch
