Asia-Pacific to face slower growth in 2012:UN-ESCAP

BANGKOK, May 12 (TNA) - Asia and the Pacific will likely, once again, face another round of slowing growth this year, as demand for its exports has dropped in developed countries amid unstable commodity prices, but the region, however, remains the world’s fastest growing. The latest flagship publication by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP) released in Bangkok this week stated that the foreseen economic slowdown in the region has mainly resulted from the unsettled Euro zone debt crisis and economic uncertainties in the United States, together with higher capital costs and relaxed monetary policies of some advance economies. According to the UN-ESCAP report, the overall Southeast Asian economy, meanwhile, is separately expected to improve in 2012, as the Thai economy, for instance, sees a strong rebound in the wake of the country's flooding crisis late last year. UN-ESCAP Executive Secretary Noeleen Heyzer assessed that the Asian-Pacific region could expect more investment projects in the near future if a strong economic rebound continued in Thailand and other flood-affected countries, suggesting other developing economies, like Myanmar, to, on the other hands, carry on genuine efforts for national economic reforms, introduce policies beneficial to the majority of their population, including those helping bridge development gap, and support human capitals. Despite the external challenges, the UN-ESCAP report said that Asia and the Pacific remains the world's fastest growing, with the immense Chinese and Indian economies particularly projected to each grow above 8 per cent in 2012. (TNA)