Barbados joins push for global panel to tackle inequality

By Rae Wee

BANGKOK, Oct 14 (Reuters) – Barbados is joining a group of countries calling for the establishment of an international panel to address inequality, at a time when ​heightened geopolitical tensions, climate change and rapid technological advances ‌threaten to widen the divide between wealthy and poorer nations.

Policymakers from developing economies are increasingly sounding the alarm over the impact of mounting debt burdens, rising food and fuel costs, and the risk of being left behind ‌in ​the AI investment boom.

“Addressing inequality is fundamental ⁠to our ability to ⁠end poverty, create opportunities for jobs and ownership, and address the growing number of conflicts around the world,”  Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley said on Wednesday at the International Monetary ​Fund and World Bank annual meetings in Bangkok.

“The climate crisis and the rise of artificial intelligence make this task even ⁠more urgent for humanity.”

The group is ⁠aiming to reach a resolution with the United Nations ​General Assembly for the formal establishment of the panel before next ​summer. Supporters of the plan include Spain, Brazil, South ‌Africa, Norway, Germany, Mexico, Iceland, Japan and Bangladesh.

Norway’s Minister of International Development, Asmund Aukrust, told reporters that more countries are expected to pledge their support at a meeting on Friday in Bangkok.

“Fifteen countries ⁠have signed up, and I would say it’s of course a mixed group from Europe, Africa, South America and Asia,” he said.

At a ⁠separate event, IMF ‌chief Kristalina Georgieva warned that current economic ⁠developments and the rapid advance of AI threaten ​to deepen the ‌gulf between advanced and developing economies, especially ​given steep ⁠drops in development assistance.

Aukrust said countries with the highest inequality were also countries where democracy was more vulnerable.

“We know that inequality is not made by nature, it’s made by political decisions, and therefore it could also be solved by political decisions.”

(Reporting by Rae Wee; Editing ​by John Mair)