Oct. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Slowing growth in Southeast Asian nations may boost unemployment and hurt the region's competitiveness, the International Labor Organization said.
Unemployment in the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or Asean, may rise to 6.2 percent in 2009, from 5.7 percent last year, the group said in a report. Productivity needs to be increased as China's output per worker overtakes those in Southeast Asia, and the gap with India narrows, the report said.
Asia's economies face a deepening slowdown as exports weaken amid the escalating global credit crunch that's toppled banks in the U.S. and Europe. Southeast Asian nations last year agreed to open up their markets further to create an economic zone modeled after the European Union by 2015.
``Relying on exports and foreign investment increases Asean's vulnerability to a prolonged global slowdown,'' said Gyorgy Sziraczki, a senior economist at the International Labor Organization.
Asean leaders have said that the regional bloc needs to improve its competitiveness as China and India, the world's two fastest-growing major economies, attract an increasing chunk of global investment.
``Improving labor productivity and the social aspects of regional integration will be essential if we are to protect recent economic gains, ensure stability and continue development,'' Sziraczki said.
Asean includes Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. Formed in 1967, it has a combined gross domestic product of more than $1.1 trillion and a population of about 570 million.
To contact the reporter on this story: Shamim Adam in Singapore at sadam2@bloomberg.net
Unemployment in the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or Asean, may rise to 6.2 percent in 2009, from 5.7 percent last year, the group said in a report. Productivity needs to be increased as China's output per worker overtakes those in Southeast Asia, and the gap with India narrows, the report said.
Asia's economies face a deepening slowdown as exports weaken amid the escalating global credit crunch that's toppled banks in the U.S. and Europe. Southeast Asian nations last year agreed to open up their markets further to create an economic zone modeled after the European Union by 2015.
``Relying on exports and foreign investment increases Asean's vulnerability to a prolonged global slowdown,'' said Gyorgy Sziraczki, a senior economist at the International Labor Organization.
Asean leaders have said that the regional bloc needs to improve its competitiveness as China and India, the world's two fastest-growing major economies, attract an increasing chunk of global investment.
``Improving labor productivity and the social aspects of regional integration will be essential if we are to protect recent economic gains, ensure stability and continue development,'' Sziraczki said.
Asean includes Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. Formed in 1967, it has a combined gross domestic product of more than $1.1 trillion and a population of about 570 million.
To contact the reporter on this story: Shamim Adam in Singapore at sadam2@bloomberg.net
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