ILO Online: What are the main challenges with respect to productivity?
Sachiko Yamamoto: The first challenge is how to accelerate productivity growth over the next decade. The second relates to the distribution of productivity gains. But both are essential for the goal of realizing decent work and ensuring sustainable development.
ILO Online: What are the sources of the region's productivity growth?
Sachiko Yamamoto: High and increasing levels of domestic investment have fuelled productivity gains in many Asian countries in recent years. However, this source of productivity growth will have some future limitations as many countries in Asia-Pacific already have very high investment levels compared to other parts of the world.
The shift of workers out of agriculture and into industry and services has had a significant, and positive, effect on overall labour productivity growth, because agricultural productivity levels tend to be much lower than in industry and services.
Indeed, between 2000 and 2006, nearly 30 per cent of productivity growth in the developing Asian economies was due to this sectoral shift.
Another important booster for productivity has been the quality of the labour force. Asia as a whole has made tremendous progress in increasing access to education, and thus the skills of its workforce.
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International Labour Organization
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