Viewpoint: Asia's Poverty Divide

By William Pesek (Bloomberg News)

Published: March 4, 2007 in the International Herald Tribune

This article is about the poverty divide in Asia, where some of the world’s fastest growing economies still include two-thirds of the world’s poor. This is especially true in the great success stories of Asia: China and India.

A recent Unicef analysis of India's government statistics says that India growing almost 10 percent, supposedly gaining on China and providing one of history's greatest investment stories. However, Indians figured even worse in the report than Ethiopia and on a par with Eritrea and Burkina Faso in the area of malnutrition. “The Unicef analysis, done in conjunction with India's Health Ministry, found that about 46 percent of children below the age of 3 suffer from malnutrition. That's a staggering figure, and one that compares with roughly 35 percent in sub-Saharan Africa and 8 percent in China. It's even more startling when you consider India predicts growth of 9.2 percent this year.”

Globalization in Asia has largely benefited the upper and middle class, just as it has around the world. This is a big problem for the future in the globalized world. Even though education and training is improving in countries thanks to globalization, overall large portions of the world’s future workforce are not being adequately trained to compete on the leveled playing field

This is one of the most pressing problems facing globalization. As a people, the human population, is growing too fast, consuming too much, and using, and then leaving the poor behind.