Page 31 - ASEAN-EU Dialogue 2018: Regional and Inter-Regional Economic Cooperation: Identifying Priorities for ASEAN and the EU

by the World Bank’s USD$ 1.90 a day) in the region fell from 17 percent in 2005 to 7 percent
in 2013 (UNDP, 2017).

Socio-economic disparity within countries have also been a cause for concern with individual
ASEAN members. Oxfam reports that the daily earning of Vietnam’s richest is as much as
what the poorest makes in ten years (Oxfam, 2017). Indonesia and Lao PDR have also seen the
share of income by the rich continues to grow some 15 percent over the last twenty years while
the poorest declined by 15 percent (Oxfam, 2017). According to Forbes, “Indonesia’s four
richest men have more wealth than 100 million of the country's poorest people” (Kelly, 2018).
Despite these concerns, ASEAN member countries have made great strides to address poverty
and inequality.

Like ASEAN, disparity in the EU have also gained attention with a study from Friedrich-Ebert-
Stiftung (FES) observing that there is an ‘alarming’ increase in inequality between the rich and
the poor (Dauderstädt and Keltek, 2017). An OECD report states that this divide intensified
particularly after the recent global financial crisis (OECD, 2017). The disparity amongst EU
members is also a challenge for the organisation as the average per capita income of EU’s
richest member state can be up to ten times higher than that of its poorest members (Dauderstädt
and Keltek, 2017). According to the 2017 OECD report, the unemployment level in Greece is
24 percent but only 4 percent in Iceland (OECD, 2017). The European Commission reports
that in 2016, 17.3 percent of the EU population are affected by monetary poverty, 7.5 percent
by severe material deprivation, while 10.5 % of the population aged 0 to 59 are affected by
very low work intensity (European Commission, 2018c).

Urban and Rural Disparity
Another major concern in disparity and sustainability involves the changing spatial distribution
of human settlement as urbanisation continues at a rapid pace. Sustainability and equality
become a major concern for rural communities which could stem from unequal access to and
unsustainable use of resources, higher vulnerability to disasters and risk, unequal social
relationship structure especially for women, as well as political marginalization (IFAD, 2018).
As a whole, the urban-rural disparity remains a larger concern for ASEAN as fast-paced
urbanisation is closely linked with the economic development of its member countries.

The urban population of Southeast Asia has increased from 15.4 percent in 1950 to about 41.8
percent by 2010, but levels of urbanisation differs amongst member countries, with a higher
urban rate for the more developed ASEAN members (ASEAN Studies Centre, 2010). Rural
residents in EU member countries also face a slightly higher risk than average of living in
poverty or social exclusion than those living in urban areas (25.5% compared with 23.6%) in
2016 (European Commission, 2018a). Although the population of EU is concentrated in urban
areas, EU is also seeing a shift in demographics as migration to rural areas has increased in
recent years (Eurostat, 2018a).

Commitment to Sustainability
Both ASEAN and EU have formal commitments as well as efforts to achieve sustainable and
equitable development. The Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI) was launched in 2000 and
Work Plan III released in 2016 also furthers the IAI efforts at bridging the gap between ASEAN
members. The initiative is aimed at assisting Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam
(collectively known as the CLMV countries) “to meet ASEAN-wide targets and commitments
towards realising the goals of the ASEAN Community” (ASEAN, 2016b).

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