“Asia is going to keep growing impressively in the future because a large part of the growth process in many of these countries is domestically driven," said Dr Sanjaya Baru, secretary-general of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry on Monday. "To this extent, Asian countries should be able to sustain the growth," he told a seminar on the Asian economy at the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) annual conference.
In the past 20 years, Asia's economy has grown at an average 6.8 percent annually, faster than any other region in the world.
In Baru’s view, considering Asian countries’ dependency on the markets of the West, trade moves by US President Donald Trump should be worrying Asia. The continent should ensure that the global economy returns to some kind of equilibrium.
Although Asian countries are competing quite well on the global stage, they do still face many problems. US President Trump instructed officials to consider a further 100bn US dollars of tariffs against China last week, in an escalation of a tense trade standoff. China's Ministry of Commerce responded saying China would "not hesitate to pay any price" to defend its interests. Tit-for-tat trade moves have unsettled Asian markets in recent weeks.
Baru said the trade disputes between China and US were more of a political challenge and the real impact on trade is still unknown. But it does have a destabilizing impact that creates a level of economic uncertainty. Therefore, the biggest challenge is to end the uncertainty.
At the same time, the challenge for Asia is to sustain export growth, as well as opening up its own domestic market to higher rates of consumption and investment, Baru told CGTN.
“Dialogue between China and US to resolve the issue is very important for Asian stability. It would like to see a process of stabilization in the region. In this case, Asia can continue its growth process,” Baru suggested when talking about the ongoing trade friction between the US and China.
Some other experts are very optimistic about the region’s future in terms of overall growth and trade.
“The region will remain the fastest growing in the world in the next 20 years. China will grow fast, as well as India. Cooperation among China, Japan and South Korea, as well as among ASEAN economies will be strengthened. China's Belt and Road Initiative will also bring new opportunities." Dai Xianglong, former governor of People’s Bank of China, said at the BFA on Monday.