Taipei Times - Sustainable globalization is all about minding the gap - by Jose Antonio Ocampo

For the complete report in the Taipei Times click on this link

Sustainable globalization is all about minding the gap - by Jose Antonio Ocampo

Within today's booming world economy, most developing countries have been growing rapidly. Yet this has not diminished the pressure to reduce the yawning gap in income between developed and developing countries that has shaped global debates for more than 50 years.

Since 1980, the world has witnessed a widening income gap among developing countries. As underscored by a recent UN report, World Economic and Social Survey 2006, this "dual divergence" holds four key lessons for economic growth in the developing world.First, success and failure in achieving sustained economic growth appear to be concentrated in time and space. Second, while pushing the technological frontier is the crucial element of growth in industrial countries, what matters for developing countries is transforming production and export structures, particularly by shifting resources to activities with higher levels of productivity.Third, macroeconomic stability, investment and growth are mutually reinforcing.Finally, institutional reform encompasses more than creating markets and guaranteeing property rights. Last but not least, we should promote gradual, home-made and country-specific institutional reforms." Jose Antonio Ocampo is UN under-secretary-general for economic and social affairs.