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)

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