Methods of measuring development, human progress must be reviewed: Sultan Perak

IPOH: Common methods used to measure development and human progress in the country need to be re-examined in order to address various issues such as social well-being, development as well as humanitarian issues, said the Sultan of Perak, Sultan Nazrin Shah.
The Sultan said national economic performance had traditionally been measured using Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as well as human development index to measure a range of social welfare including health and education.
"We should recognise that a broader range of indicators is necessary to monitor the trend of development and prosperity," he said in his Royal Address when officiating the Pangkor Dialogue 2017 (PD 2017), here today.
The two-day event themed "Making the Future: Innovative Pathways to Sustainable Development" organised by Institut Darul Ridzuan (IDR) was a platform to discuss issues relating to socio-economic development and sustainability.
Sultan Nazrin also drew attention that many of the present jobs would not exist in the future caused by the new technology nowadays.
"One study suggested that at least 50% of 700 different current job categories may be fully automated in the coming years," the Sultan noted.
The Sultan also stressed that new financing modules were required to mobilise adequate resources in order to close the development and humanitarian financing gap.
"I would like to suggest that the role of Islamic finance is particularly important. Of the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the world today, 90% occurred in the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member states and 31 of the 33 conflicts today, occurred in Muslim majority countries," he said. — Bernama