Roundup: Vientiane forum tackles poverty reduction with China experience used as model

China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have been jointly tackling the issue of poverty reduction, with the China experience of reducing poverty being used as the model for other emerging economies in the region to emulate.

During the 9th ASEAN-China Forum on Social Development and Poverty Reduction held in the Lao capital this week, some 150 policy-makers, practitioners and experts from across the region shared insights on poverty reduction.

With the theme Financial Innovations for Poverty Reduction, the Vientiane forum discussed several approaches to the challenge of extending vital financial services including savings, credit and insurance to those who remain on the margins of the economic system.

Lessons from the dramatic progress made in steadily reducing the ranks of the poor in China over recent decades was the focus of Chinese official Hong Tianyun's address at the opening session of the conference.

Hong is the deputy director of the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development of China (LGOP).

He said while China remains a developing country, it is willing to share its hard-earned lessons in poverty reduction and development with other countries in the region.

"Thanks to our efforts, we have reduced our population mired in poverty by about 600 million, and China is the first country in the world to cut its poverty-stricken population by half," Hong said.

In Laos, the National Committee for Rural Development and Poverty Eradication (NRDPE) is the leading agency responsible for coordinating the implementation of development efforts among the various government ministries in the landlocked Southeast Asian nation.

The government's village development fund is one of the key ways where the country has successfully harnessed rural households in participating in community-based self-empowerment and entrepreneurial activities.

Addressing the gathering, NRDPE Chairman Bounheuang Douangphachan said the government of Laos has given the country's rural population access to rural banking, micro-credit and village development funds.

Also discussed in the forum were sub-themes such as the extraordinary growth of innovative Internet-based lending and peer- to-peer (P2P) credit enabled by mobile Internet connections and its role in expanding access to government financing, particularly for rural communities in China and its possible application in ASEAN.

Addressing the forum on this theme, Yu Li, a researcher from the People's Bank of China, said when correctly regulated, novel lending platforms would help realize the goal of having flexible financing schemes tailored to the needs of low-income households that are often ignored by larger, more established formal lenders and banks.

In an interview with Xinhua, Deputy Secretary of the ASEAN Secretariat Alicia Dela Rosa-Bala said the 10-member ASEAN would continue to work towards closing the development gaps between member states, utilizing lessons learnt from China's remarkable success in its anti-poverty campaign.

"The value-added of China to this forum is by sharing their own experiences in poverty reduction especially in rural areas. Definitely they will add value to the practices and the policies and programs that member states can adopt or they can modify this based on China's experience," Rosa-Bala said.

NRDPE Director General of the committee's Planning and International Cooperation Department Chit Thavisay said he was " very fond of what China has done so far about poverty reduction because in just in one generation, China was able to help make millions of poor people overcome poverty."

"That's why the first lesson to be learned from China is cooperation or partnership between the public, private and people. Most important of all is the welfare of the people," Thavisay said.

A key private sector participant, Frank Ma Chuanfu, vice president of the diversified conglomerate CITIC Construction Co Ltd., talked about corporate social responsibility (CSR) in coordinating with national, provincial and local poverty reduction plans in the regions.

"I think any poverty reduction measure should involve not just the government but also the private sector, including companies, NGOs and other socio-civic groups," Ma said.

Enjiang Cheng, associate professor of Victoria University of Australia, said, "The important thing to remember is that when we provide financing, we must also provide other support services, such as agricultural inputs or other technical support."

The 9th ASEAN-China Forum on Social Development and Poverty Reduction was co-hosted by Laos' National Committee for Rural Development and Poverty Eradication (NRDPE) and China's State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development (LGOP) Endi