World leaders call for quality of life index

BUSAN - Participants in a forum of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development called for new ways to measure quality of life beyond the conventional growth measure of GDP.

OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria warned that unless the world developed a new set of statistics to measure "true progress," people could lose confidence in markets and governments.

"We are now hopefully approaching the end of the recession, but the gap was already evident during the years of good economic performance and may be widening further today," Gurria said as he opened the third OECD World Forum in Busan. The biennial forum runs through Friday.

The OECD chief said that GDP was growing but most people "did not necessarily feel better-off."

"Going forward, there is a major risk that people will lose confidence in markets and institutions, and in the capacity of governments to address their problems. This is a major political challenge," he said.



Gurria attributed the gap between measurement and people`s dissatisfaction with the use of statistics, such as using GDP measures as a gauge for households` spending power and even as a measure of wellbeing.

To develop new measures that can gauge more than GDP, new initiatives should identify "what really matters to people" and institutions should focus more on sustainability issues such as the state of the biosphere and metrics related to "green growth," he said.

The OECD launched a project on Statistics, Knowledge and Policy to develop better and broader statistics in 2004. The project has gained momentum by the recommendations of an international commission set up by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the Stiglitz Commission.

"We are ready to meet the request of the French government and act as the international focal point of the follow-up to the recommendations of the Stiglitz Commission," Gurria said.

President Lee Myung-bak shared Gurria`s view, saying that the conventional economic growth model did not ensure people`s happiness anymore.

Korean Finance Minister Yoon Jeung-hyun, who delivered welcoming remarks, said the OECD World Forum in Busan will serve as a chance to reflect on fresh values and ideas, and to explore key alternatives of how to seek more balanced and sustainable growth.

"There are many challenges and tasks ahead of us, such as the economic recovery, climate change, a better quality of life and social integration," Yoon said.

"I am sure this forum will make us prepare for mapping out a bright future and beginning to formulate a new vision."

(yoonmi@heraldm.com)



By Kim Yoon-mi