英译汉

　　Passage 1

　　亚洲国家经济增长

　　Ladies and gentlemen, today there are more than 95% of the Asian countries that are middle income countries, compared to less than 10% twenty years ago. Such drastic change is due to the rapid economic growth of China, India, Indonesia and other Asian countries. Now the challenge faced by Asia, a region that is largely middle-income countries is how to transition into high income economies. The experience of other developing nations for the past 50 years has shown that, such transition is not easy. Brazil and Columbia have remained at the middle income status for decades and never moved up further. At the same time, Singapore has transitioned from the middle income level to high income level in only 25 years has also shown that this can be done.

　　Investment in infrastructure is key to countries to follow through this transition. However, countries have to step up their efforts in productivity promotion, meaning that it has to make sure the good use of input instead of only focusing the amount of input. For the past 10 years productivity growth accounted for 30% of economic growth. Innovation is what needs to be promoted together with high-quality infrastructure as well as human capital. Innovation is getting more and more important as a country develops its economy. It helps with creating new products and more values in products, in turn will even further economic development and increase wage level.

　　Higher quality of human capital means more skilled and more knowledgeable work force, which is the foundation of any economy. Enhancing the quality of human capital is going to boost growth and equity. A recent study has shown that 20% increase in human capital investment will lead to 3% of productivity growth and narrowing the income gap by 4%. Workers in middle income countries have an average of six years of schooling. That is why countries need to close such gap compared to 10 years of average schooling in high income countries. Quality of education is even more crucial. In math and science subjects 15 year old students in high income countries are doing much better than those in middle income countries. Students with strong abilities in reading writing and problem-solving are more likely to become the future innovators. Survey also shows a direct relation between investments made in education and growth in GDP.

　　Different countries prioritize different infrastructure. Low income countries often need to meet the basic needs such as water supply public health and transportation. Once countries develop even further, they need to focus on electricity and IT infrastructure. It is a key driver to innovation because it helps create and spread knowledge. Middle income countries with more Internet users are more innovative than those without the internet. Increasing investment in IT is going to boost innovation and productivity.

　　To encourage innovation and entrepreneurship, countries have to step up efforts in intellectual property protection as well as the rule of law, increased financing and created equal policies to boost competition. According to estimation, about US$26 trillion will be spent from 2016 to 2030 on infrastructure investment, in order to lower the impact of climate change. To meet this need, Asian countries need to carry out tax reform, change their economic structure and borrow prudently. But they tend to face a funding shortage anyway. That is why Asian countries have to attract more private investment and build a better investment environment working with private investors and offer a higher return. To conclude, I believe Asian countries have come so far so quickly, The promotion of human capital to achieve sustained growth can be done. That is going to be the natural next step for us.