South Asia

South Asia remains one of the world’s poor regions in 2005. Harnessing science and technology (S&T) to human development and economic growth over the past decade has proved a difficult task for many countries with a growing population. Even though poverty levels have dropped in India and other countries of the region in the past five years, human development indicators have witnessed only minor improvements for South Asia as a whole. With the possible exception of India, government support for scientific research and development (R&D) has remained relatively low, at between 0.2% and 0.5% of gross domestic product (GDP) for the region as a whole. This compares with gross domestic expenditure on R&D (GERD) of 1.5–2.5% of GDP in East Asian countries during the decade.

Sustainable Development Goals:

Decent Work and Economic Growth