Global General
World Bank president sees end to 'Third World'
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-04-15 00:48
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WASHINGTON: World Bank President Robert B. Zoellick said on Wednesday that the world has entered a new multipolar economic order and "2009 saw the end of what was known as the 'Third World'."
Zoellick said the world now is in a new, fast-evolving multipolar global economy -- in which some developing countries are emerging as economic powers while others are moving toward becoming additional poles of growth.
Others, Zoellick said, are struggling to attain their potential within this new system -- "where North and South, East and West, are now points on a compass, not economic destinies."
He noted that the global economic crisis has shown that multilateralism matters. Staring into the abyss, countries pulled together to save the global economy. The modern Group of 20 was born out of crisis. It showed its potential by quickly acting to shore up confidence.
Zoellick said the developing world was not the cause of the crisis, but it could be an important part of the solution.
He said the world will look very different in 10 years, with demand coming not just from the United States but from around the globe.
According to World Bank statistics, the world has already seen the economic shifts, in which Asia has become an influential power.
Asia's share of the global economy in purchasing power parity terms has risen steadily from 7 percent in 1980 to 21 percent in 2008. Asia's stock markets now account for 32 percent of global market capitalization, ahead of the United States at 30 percent and Europe at 25 percent.
In 2009, China overtook Germany to become the world's biggest exporter. It also overtook the United States to become the world's largest market for cars.
Zoellick said that today's shifts open new opportunities for cooperation. However, the danger now is that as the fear of the crisis recedes, the willingness to cooperate will too.
He said last year's G20 summit at Pittsburgh recognized that change. But it will take more than words on paper.
"We already see the strains," Zoellick said. "The Doha World Trade Organization round and the climate change talks in Copenhagen revealed how hard it will be to share mutual benefits and responsibilities between developed and developing countries."
He said that those debates also exposed the diversity of challenges faced by different developing countries.
He urged leaders around the world to look into the future and meet the changing realities.
"We cannot predict the future with assurance. But we can anticipate directions -- and one is that the age of a multipolar global economy is coming into view," he concluded.
