Although, some of the Asian economies, like, China, India and Viet Nam, are growing at a faster pace they are not doing well in terms of development of basic capabilities in terms of education, health and skill formation. This we found when we ranked countries in terms of Social Development Index and compared them with ranking in terms of GDP growth rate alone. In fact, the not so fast growing economies, like the Republic of Korea, do well in terms of distribution of resources towards its average citizen and in terms of other development criteria. Much of the cause of inequality in Asia results from inability to absorb predominantly rural based population into urban centric manufacturing and services sector and not because of trade. In fact, trade helps to build capabilities in the region.