Building Asian experience to keep driving Asian development

East Asia’s growth and development over the past few decades have been remarkable. As a consequence, many countries in the region have become important players on the world stage. The world looks increasingly to continued growth in East Asia to support global recovery as many other parts of the world face severe economic challenges with fiscal and structural imbalances. East Asia has also become an important center for technological innovation and development, ranging from electronics to consumer goods and manufacturing. 

 

This progress in raising living standards reflects the success much of East Asia has had in managing and using public resources to deliver quality public services. Governments across the region have strengthened their management of public resources, improved their delivery of public services, and applied performance-based approaches to assure development results. These reforms have helped make governments more efficient, more effective, and more accountable to their citizens. 

 

Yet there is much more to be done.  Continuing to strengthen the performance of the public sector and improve public service delivery is not a luxury, but a necessity.  In a challenging global environment, East Asia’s growth and broad-based prosperity increasingly depend on quality infrastructure, a healthy and educated workforce, and more connected and well-informed citizens. And all of these require an efficient, effective and accountable public sector. 

 

Fortunately, there is tremendous potential for learning about improved management of public resources within East Asia. There is a wealth of expertise close at hand about ways to manage public resources better. Governments have used a range of different approaches to strengthen public sector performance and public financial management.  Many countries share common challenges in these areas along with the desire to strengthen their performance. So, they are looking beyond their own borders to the experiences of others to examine good practices and fit them to their own contexts.  And while there are many linguistic, economic and political variations within East Asia, there are also key commonalities that bind the region together. 

 

It is to this end that the World Bank, in partnership with AusAID --the Australian agency for international development-- and South Korea’s Ministry of Finance and Strategy, have joined forces to support the establishment of the Public Expenditure Management Network in Asia (PEMNA). Eleven countries are already part of this network: Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam. The Network fulfils an important role by creating a space for public financial management practitioners from countries across the region to work together on issues of mutual interest, exchange experiences, and commission research to help drive knowledge forward. PEMNA is uniquely East Asian, and will be driven by the demands of its constituents, and responsive to the socio-economic context of the region.  PEMNA builds on the successes that have already been achieved by giving governments a chance to leverage the experience of their peers, derive good practice in areas like budget and treasury management, and apply the lessons learned by their neighbors to strengthen their own systems.

 

To sustain progress, East Asian countries should build on the wealth of experience that is already available throughout the region. A dynamic, sustainable peer-learning network to support public financial management in East Asia is one important tool that can help make governments efficient and effective at delivering services to their citizens—services that can help maintain the Region’s growth and development trajectory. The launch of the PEMNA initiative in Bangkok this weekend sends a strong signal that East Asia recognizes its own potential, and is prepared to work together to build on its achievements. And the World Bank is proud to be a partner in this effort.   

 

Dr. Sudhir Shetty, Director for Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Department, East Asia and the Pacific Region. World Bank