While Asian economies have resumed strong economic growth 10 years after the 1997-1998 financial crisis, the per capita income of the region's richest country, Japan, is 200 times that of its poorest nation, Timothy Ong said.

"As we celebrate the achievements that statistics tell us, we need to remind ourselves how disparate the region remains and how disparity in certain areas is growing and how much more needs to be done," he said at a forum organised by the London School of Economics.

Ong, acting chairperson of the Brunei Economic Development Board, said inequality was rising not only in terms of incomes but also in educational attainment and access to basic services.

Japan's per capita income is more than 20 times the average for East Asia, he told an audience of business executives, academics and diplomats.

Even in China, the income disparity between some of its cities and rural areas can be as high as 14 times, he said, adding this could have implications for "social cohesion."

"Consider the fact that whenever we point to examples of East Asia's prowess in technology, in innovation, in science and in mathematics, a few countries always make the list and there is no mention of the rest," he said.

Wealthy economies like South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan spend 2.0-2.5 percent of their gross domestic product for research and development, he said, while Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand spend only 0.1-0.2 percent of their GDP in that area.

Ong said the number of patents per 100 000 people is six to nine times higher in emerging Asia than in Latin America and the developing countries of Europe.

But the "vast majority" of these patents are from Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore, "with the rest lagging far, far, far behind," he said.

"Consider the implications of large parts of emerging Asia being left out of the new economic geography that we celebrate today," he said.

"While we celebrate emerging Asia's remarkable changes, and there is reason to do so, let us remind ourselves that there is still much unfinished business."

Oil-rich Brunei, whose citizens number fewer than 400 000, boasts one of the highest per capita incomes in Asia.

AFP