H.E. WANG Zhengpu, Administrator of National Rural Revitalization Administration of the People's Republic of China

H.E. Mr. DENG Xijun, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to ASEAN

Attorney Noel Felongco, Secretary/Lead Convenor of National Anti-Poverty Commission of the Philippines

H.E. Mr. Siddharth Chatterjee, United Nations Resident Coordinator in China

Representatives from the ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting on Rural Development and Poverty Eradication (SOMRDPE)

Distinguished participants, ladies and gentlemen,

Good Morning from the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta.

At the outset, I would like to express my heartfelt appreciation to China for the visionary leadership in organizing this annual forum for 14 consecutive years. This platform has served as one of the most important venues between ASEAN and China to share stories of success and lesson learned on poverty alleviation.

Throughout 30 years of dialogue relations, ASEAN and China have continuously engaged in meaningful exchanges on development policies and strategies at all levels. ASEAN, in this regard, has learned tremendously from China’s success in eradicating poverty through effective targeting.

Guided by the Plan of Action to Implement the ASEAN-China Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity (2021–2025) and the ASEAN-China Strategic Partnership Vision 2030 adopted in November 2018, both share a commitment to peaceful development, stability, and multilateralism.

The year 2021 is also monumental as it marks the ASEAN-China Year For Sustainable Development which presents opportunities for us to address the challenges and to find solutions to safeguard our development gains and remedy the inevitable losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic together.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We are reminded by the Extraordinary ASEAN-China Social Development and Poverty Reduction Forum held in 2020 that our development progress is being reversed by the COVID-19 pandemic and that our populations are at heightened risks to fall back into deeper poverty. Far more than a health crisis, it is evident that the ongoing pandemic has jeopardized our gains and successes in economic, social and human development.

In ASEAN, the Member States have worked individually and collectively to reduce the number of people living in absolute poverty in the past decades. The ASEAN Sustainable Development Goals Indicators Baseline Report 2020 showcases ASEAN’s remarkable progress in poverty reduction throughout the years.

The same report, however, indicates that rural poverty rate remains to be systematically tackled with eighteen (18) per cent of rural people living below the poverty line. And as we take a gendered look, poverty in our region is experienced differently by women and girls. According to ASEAN Gender Outlook: Achieving the SDGs for all and leaving no woman or girl behind, fifty eight (58) per cent of women still earn less than their partners and rural women living in poor households are lagging the furthest behind.

Additionally, in order to survive and thrive in the post-pandemic world, we must be cognisant of other key variables that underpin the evolving characteristics of poverty in the region particularly  rapid urbanisation,  demographic shift, climate change and disasters; as well as the changing nature of work amidst the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

This requires us to adopt a more inter-sectional and holistic approach to not only eradicate poverty but also to reduce inequalities. Our policies and programmes must strive to address multi-dimensional and deal with non-income poverty in order to help us effectively lessen deprivation and vulnerabilities in this trying time.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In so doing, we need to increase investment in terms of resources allocation, human capital development, knowledge-building and targeted poverty reduction interventions to support  the groups and sectors that urgently need to be lifted out of poverty. These groups entail, among others, the new poor, the urban and rural poor, and marginalised communities.

Public policies and institutions working on poverty alleviation would need to take more notice of the need to unlock the potentials of rural areas, and enhance the dynamic linkages between rural, peri-urban and urban areas and foster collaboration between public, people and private sector.

As such, the year 2021 is critical as we endeavour to recover from the pandemic. While fighting the pandemic is a priority for our health, we should continue to harness our commitment to eradicate poverty and achieve sustainable development for all.

In fact, this crisis presents an opportunity to mainstream poverty eradication and sustainable development approach in our recovery process as advancing toward a more sustainable and resilient future is central to the overall objective of the ASEAN Comprehensive Recovery Framework.

Fortifying our synergy and forging ahead with optimism are the only ways for ASEAN and China to build back better and stronger from the pandemic. To realise such  goal, sustaining partnership at all levels is indispensable. The cooperation between ASEAN and China is an exemplary longstanding partnership which cuts across multiple issues, sectors, pillars and levels of interventions both at the national and regional levels.

In closing, I would like to thank you China again for your friendship and for being our companion through the journey to eradicate poverty towards inclusive and sustainable development.

It is with trust that we will learn from each other and identify solutions through innovative ways of working together to ensure that our community remains robust and ready for a post-COVID-19 world.

Thank you!