China on Monday called on the member states of the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) along with South Korea and Japan to hold regular ministerial meetings to discuss poverty reduction.

 

The proposal was issued at the Second ASEAN plus Three High-level Workshop on Poverty Reduction held in Beijing Monday.

 

The meeting reviewed and assessed the ongoing poverty reduction efforts of the region, and discussed how to improve their efforts and effectiveness.

 

There are about 700 million people living on less than a dollar a day in the Asia-Pacific region, accounting for two-thirds of the world's people living in poverty. The number of the poor in some of the most underdeveloped countries including Cambodia and Laos accounts for 30 percent of the total population.

 

The proposal said the establishment of the ministerial meetings will foster regional cooperation on poverty reduction.

 

The ministerial meeting will focus on sharing experiences in the formulation and implementation of poverty reduction policies, assessing the effectiveness and problems of regional cooperation, analyzing the main challenges confronting each country and jointly designing plans of action with specific steps, the proposal said.

 

The proposal also suggests setting up a regional poverty reduction forum, conducting closer inter-governmental and program cooperation, strengthening personnel training and enhancing exchanges on poverty reduction.

 

China will invite 1,000 poverty reduction officials from the ASEAN countries to participate in training or exchange activities in China over the next five years, according to the proposal.

 

The proposal also called on international organizations, developed countries, non-governmental organizations, the private sector and social entities to increase their aid for impoverished regions, especially in countries that have low economic growth rates, environmental degradation, large rural populations and a heavy debt load.

 

Aid should be expanded to include the transfer of labor, city planning and management, and the prevention of HIV/AIDS and other communicable diseases, the proposal said.

 

The meeting was attended by poverty reduction officials from ten ASEAN member states, including Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and China. Officials from South Korea and Japan along with representatives of international organizations also sent their observers to the workshop.

 

Delegates to the meeting will travel to South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Yunnan Province in Southwest China to investigate in poverty reduction work there.

 

(Xinhua News Agency September 26, 2006)