Page 53 - Secondary School BEATS

Moving on, why is economic development important for a country, especially those that are un-
derdeveloped or developing? First of all, economic development improves the standard of living
for every resident in the country. To illustrate, when transportation improves, every resident will
be able to reap the benefits, or when the medical sector begins developing, every resident of the
country gains access to better medical support. Secondly, economic development leads to higher
life expectancy. Life expectancy is a measure of how long an individual is predicted to live. When
life expectancy increases, it means that there is better use of technology and resources in the
medical sector, which is a vital development for all the residents. Thirdly, with economic devel-
opment, a country becomes more efficient in terms of how it functions. With better technology
and more efficient usage of resources, a country becomes more productive. An example of this
is seen in the 18th to 20th century, where technological advancements were prevelant. Before,
farmers would have to sow each seed by hand, and before sowing, they would have to prepare
the soil. However, with the onset of farming tools and tractors, the agriculture has become much
more productive, leading to more revenue gained from this industrial sector.

Before a country begins developing economically, it is important to keep in mind the state of the
country. Just like a baby does not have the appetite of an adult, an underdeveloped country does
not have the same capability to develop as a developed country. Hence, an underdeveloped and
developing country must begin with collecting funds and capital which can be used for growth.
Any such country should also resolve any humanitarian conflict and make sure that residents
can practice their basic human rights. This step can be achieved by the help of organisations
such as United Nations, who aim to promote the sustainable development goals throughout the
globe. To illustrate the importance of this, I will take the example of South Sudan. South Sudan
is currently facing a major gender inequality issue, due to which it cannot reach its maximum
productivity as it is not producing as much as it has the potential to. This brings me to my next
point, potential productivity curve. This curve is a good measure of how well a country is utiliz-
ing their resources, and any country, no matter how developed, should make sure that their pro-
duction lies on the curve. This is important as when you are efficient with your production, you
produce more. This increases your potential to produce, which creates a cycle. Additionally, any
developing and developed country should work on the interconnectedness between different in-
dustrial sectors. For example, the mining industry should be connected with the transportation
energy to make transport of resources easier. This leads to higher productivity and faster pro-
duction. Additionally, technology is a key aspect for developing and underdeveloped countries.
To illustrate, better technology would mean better standards of living, higher life expectancy,
and biggest of all, more productive equipments. This is important because more productive ma-
chines would be reflected in different industries, which will then be able to gain more revenue.

To conclude, economic development is very important, specifically for the underdeveloped and
developing countries, because economic development and growth are a cycle. A country begins
with economic growth, and this growth is transferred to economic development. With econom-
ic development, technology in the country can improve, which will lead to higher productivity
within the country. This higher productivity would be reflected in economic growth as more
productivity would mean more revenue gained from this industry. As one can notice, this is a
cycle, as both these terms go hand-in-hand to bring development as fast as possible.

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