SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACT:
WHAT IS THE RATIONAL FOR DOING LED? The
most important strategy to reduce poverty sustainably is economic growth. Over
decades Southeast Asian transition countries and China have shown that high growth
leads to increased employment, increased real wages and consequently reduced poverty.
However,
the extent of the benefits of economic growth for the poor depends on the degree
of involvement of the poor in the economy and the prevailing income gap. Where
the income gap between the rich and the poor is high and the poor’s involvement
in the economy and their purchasing power low, the benefits of growth for the
poor is correspondingly reduced. The challenge of LED is therefore to support
growth patterns which produce clear benefits for the poor by making both direct
and indirect impacts on their living conditions. | 
