World Bank East Asia and the Pacific Economic Update, April 2024: Firm Foundations of Growth

Most economies in developing East Asia and Pacific (EAP) are growing faster than the rest of the world but slower than before the pandemic. Slowing global growth, still tight financial conditions, and an increase in trade protection and industrial support in large and rich countries are key aspects of the external environment shaping the region’s economic performance. Amplified public and private debt, constrained macroeconomic policy, and increased policy uncertainty are the major domestic issues. EAP’s current macroeconomic challenges risk obscuring the microeconomic foundations of longer-term growth. Over the last decade, EAP’s growth has been driven by investment and capital deepening rather than by increased productivity of firms. Now private investment is weak and productivity declining–further inhibiting the incentive to invest. Firms are the protagonists of productivity growth. Some of the weaker firms in EAP countries are beginning to catch up with stronger firms. But the stronger firms in the region are failing to take full advantage of new technologies: regional leaders risk becoming global laggards. Bold policy action to unleash competition, improve infrastructure and reform education with measured state support could revitalize the region’s economy.