In emerging markets, it is uncertain how protests in Brazil and Turkey, the credit crunch in China, and the potentially volatile capital flows to emerging and developing markets will affect growth in these economies. And critical challenges remain: policymakers around the globe need to ensure that public finances are sustainable in the longer term, where the pains of deleveraging will be particularly felt by advanced economies. Around the world, unemployment or the threat of it remains one of the main challenges to long-term social sustainability. Indeed, the experience of recent years has underscored social sustainability as key to longer-term competitiveness, and thus to sustainable growth. Against this challenge, one of the elements gaining in importance in fostering countries' competitiveness is education.
A perception is growing that educational systems in many countries could better respond to the needs of labor markets, help economies to avoid skills gaps, and ensure that adequately trained human capital is available to support business activity as well as to develop innovative capacity and entrepreneurship. It is therefore to be expected that, over the coming years, a series of major systematic reviews of educational frameworks at the national level will be necessary in many countries across all stages of development. Overall, although there are indications that economic policies and measures are shifting in the right direction, efforts must be sustained in order to safeguard the progress achieved and to keep the global economy on a sustainable growth path going forward. Encouraging, sustaining, and enhancing growth will require decisive action by leaders in order to boost their countries' competitiveness and future economic outlook. Reforms and the right set of investments to enhance competitiveness will be crucial for the economic transformations that can lead to sustained higher growth over the longer term.
