Indicators of development must go beyond economic growth: Sultan Nazrin

A country’s development cannot be measured by economic indicators alone but should encompass social justice, human well-being, ecological balance, and peace, said the Sultan of Perak, Sultan Nazrin Shah.

His Royal Highness said that in recent years, new approaches have emerged that seek to expand the scope of development and these acknowledged that traditional metrics are too narrow and do not capture the complexities of human well-being or ecological sustainability.

“New frameworks have been developed, including the Human Development Index of the United Nations Development Programme, which has helped to broaden our understanding of development to include access to healthcare, education, and political participation, and not just income levels,” Sultan Nazrin said in his royal address at the Putrajaya Festival of Ideas (FOI) in Putrajaya today.

Higher Education Minister Zambry Abd Kadir was also present.

The Perak ruler said that the understanding of what development means has changed considerably in the last 80 years. Traditionally, development has been seen almost exclusively as an economic process in which countries rise from a low to a higher income status.

“In this view, development was seen as a linear path towards modernisation. The focus was on gross domestic product (GDP) growth, industrialisation and market expansion. This model of development has achieved considerable success and lifted millions out of poverty.

“But it has also left behind a host of problems. These include widespread poverty amid plenty, environmental degradation, rising inequality and social exclusion,” he said.

Traditional model of development

As a result, Sultan Nazrin said this traditional model of development has come under significant criticism.

Many scholars and practitioners are calling for a broader understanding of development that goes beyond a narrow focus on economic growth, one that includes deeper issues of social justice, human well-being, ecological balance and peace, he said.

On another note, the ruler said although there are many approaches to development, the concept must be grounded in several key principles: inter-connectedness, people-centred development, environmental stewardship, as well as equity and justice.

Globally interconnected challenges

Sultan Nazrin said reform must be made to the UN and international financial institutions to meet today’s globally interconnected challenges.

He said almost 80 years have passed since World War II ended, and it is surely past time to reform the global institutions that were set up during and just after it.

“The UN, World Bank and International Monetary Fund all continue to function based on the same outdated rules of global governance that were developed then.

“But while the geopolitical and economic environments have changed since 1945, and we now live in a multipolar world, yet these historical, and unrepresentative, governance structures remain.

“We all share one planet, living on a global commons of shared resources, perhaps even in a global village. If major global crises that affect us all such as climate change are to be tackled fairly and effectively, the Global South must now be integrated more fully into problem-solving processes,” he said.

On the Putrajaya FOI organised by the Higher Education Ministry, Sultan Nazrin said the festival represents an important acknowledgement that development itself, as a concept and as a practice, can never stand still.

“It must constantly be reviewed, updated and, yes, broadened, to meet the ever-changing needs of the present,” he said.

- Bernama

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