Dr. Lohani, who is an alumnus and former faculty member of AIT,
highlighted the role of knowledge management stating that Korea
represents a unique example in Asia, where a country has moved from
being a developing economy to a developed economy. He identified water,
sanitation, integrated water resource management, clean energy,
sustainable transport, urban development and smart liveable cities as
growth areas in Asia.
Stating that there is a possibility of Asia crossing 52 per cent of
the global GDP by 2050, the ADB Vice President warned of a countries
falling into the middle-income trap. “Countries that are low on
innovation have failed to break the middle-income trap,” Dr. Lohani
warned. Identifying the Education, Information and Communication
Technologies, and Research and Development as the three pillars of a
knowledge-based economy, Dr. Lohani stated that 50 per cent of the GDP
in the OECD countries is knowledge-related. He mentioned how Singapore,
which was a labour-based economy, moved towards a technology-base and
is now into a phase of innovation-based economy.
Stating that the world has never seen the kind of urbanization that
Asia is witnessing, Dr. Lohani remarked that this stresses the need to
develop urban resilience to face climate change. Urbanization and its
associated sectors represent a eight trillion dollar opportunity, he
added.
AIT President Prof. Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai, welcomed Dr. Lohani and
thanked him for addressing the AIT community.
