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Crucial drivers spur economic development – HDR outlines
Substantial progress in many countries over the past two decades has been recognised and those within the southern hemisphere have not been left out of this evolution.
This is according to the 2013 Human Development Report (HDR) which states that “several high achievers have not only boosted national income but have also had better than average performance on social indicators such as health and education.”
The Report poses the rhetorical question of ‘how have so many countries in the South transformed their human development prospects?’
It was outlined that across most of these countries there have been three notable drivers of development: a proactive developmental state, tapping of global markets and determined social policy and innovation.
These drivers, the Report explains, are not derived from abstract conceptions of how development should work; rather they are demonstrated by the transformational development experiences of many countries in the South.
“Indeed, they challenge preconceived and prescriptive approaches: on the one hand, they set aside a number of collectivist, centrally managed precepts; on the other hand, they diverge from unfettered liberalisation espoused by the Washington Consensus,” details the Report.
Speaking at the launch of the Report on Thursday last, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, underscored that while there has been detailed recipes “there is no one size fit all” approach in terms of development.
Important to development, she noted, is the role of the State and a dedication to improving human development while at the same time promoting trade and innovation. “Some years ago the home-grown policies which focus on the social sector were deemed to be bad for economic development indeed I am advised there was one Report in which Guyana was marked down because of how much we spend on the social sector…we were deemed bad for business.”
But according to Minister Rodrigues-Birkett, the newest Report has emphasised that “growth without human development is unsustainable and is in fact dangerous.”
She emphasised that the Government of Guyana has always welcomed assessments, such as the Human Development Report, that can stand up to scrutiny adding that “in this case the Report reminds us where we are placed in the global community.”
Guyana’s ranking in the Report’s Human Development Index (HDI) has moved one place up, suggesting that it has been doing something right over the past year. Nestled in the Medium Human Development section of the Index Guyana has a ranking of 118 out of 187 countries with a HDI average of 0.636.
Like its predecessors, the Minister insisted that the new Report could not have had a more appropriate theme, “The Rise of the South: Human Progress in Diverse a World.”
This theme, according to her, is in fact true because there is a diversification of economic power and it can be said that the South is at the centre of such activities.
“We applaud the advances made by most of the world’s developing countries especially those larger ones that have made more rapid advances…Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, South Africa, and Turkey but the smaller ones have also been recognised…This is a welcoming sign given that equality and equity, as important as it is, for individual countries must also be seen when the global landscape is amalgamated.”
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