How can developing countries achieve sustainable development: implications from the inclusive wealth index of ASEAN countries

Since 2015, when the United Nations (UN) established the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the period 2015-2030, global attention has turned to sustainable development. However, few studies have focused on how countries can achieve sustainable development using comprehensive perspectives and quantitative approaches. In response to this gap, the current study adopts the Inclusive Wealth Index (IWI), which comprehensively evaluates the values of produced, natural, and human capitals that clearly contribute to the sustainable development of nations. By utilizing the IWI, this research carefully explores whether developing countries in the ASEAN region developed in a sustainable way during the period 1990 to 2014. We show that ASEAN countries with rich natural resources had difficulty developing sustainably. In contrast, other countries were able to overcome obstacles to sustainable development by enhancing produced capital, which was partly reflected in their relatively high GDP. To conserve wealth for the future generations, the management of capital resources in a way that reflects regional heterogeneity is key to achieving the SDGs in the ASEAN region.