Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2022 Supplement: Global Gloom Dims Asian ProspectsSouth Asia is projected to grow at 6.5% in fiscal year (FY) 2022 and 6.3% in FY2023. In Bangladesh, weak exports and high inflation are hampering recovery, while in Bhutan, agriculture and construction are projected to support economic growth. In India, growth is projected at 7.0% in FY2022 and 7.2% in FY2023, sustained by public reform and public and private investment. Maldives tourist arrivals and construction continue to pick up. In Nepal, the 2023 budget aims to improve agriculture, industry, and social protection. Economic contraction is expected in Sri Lanka with marked declines in industry and agriculture. In Southeast Asia, Myanmar maintains positive growth projections despite high rates of inflation. Author: Asian Development Bank Year: 2022 Download Tags: ADB, Agriculture, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Investment, Social Protection Asian Development Bank and Nepal: Fact SheetThe ADB Fact Sheet provides social and economic indicators on Nepal, as well as information on ADB operations in the country and contact details. Nepal is working toward graduation to middle-income country status and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. ADB assistance aims to improve equitable access to education while pursuing a strategy that aims to address bottlenecks in infrastructure development in energy, transport, and urban facilities. ADB operations will also focus on agriculture, gender equality, good governance, environmental sustainability, regional cooperation, and private sector development. Author: Asian Development Bank Year: 2017 Download Tags: ADB, Nepal, Sustainable Development Goals, Infrastructure, Energy, Transport, Agriculture, Regional Cooperation, Gender Asian Development Bank and Bhutan: Fact SheetThe Asian Development Bank (ADB) Fact Sheet provides social and economic indicators on Bhutan, as well as information on ADB operations and contact details. Since 1982, ADB has supported Bhutan through projects in energy, finance, and trade facilitation, and transport. ADB has approved loans totaling $498.81 million, grants of $222.4 million, and $73.48 million in technical assistance for Bhutan. ADB support reflects strong emphasis on green energy production, transport connectivity, and urban infrastructure projects. To make growth more inclusive, ADB will help Bhutan through projects focusing on cross-border connectivity, skills development, and agriculture. Author: Asian Development Bank Year: 2017 Download Tags: ADB, Bhutan, Energy, Connectivity, Transport, Agriculture, Roads  Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2017 Update: Sustaining Development through Public-Private PartnershipDeveloping Asia is forecast to expand by 5.9% in 2017 and 5.8% in 2018, a slight upgrade from projections in the Asian Development Outlook 2017. However, growth forecast for South Asia is downgraded to 6.7% in 2017. India’s growth remains strong and most South Asian countries are expected to meet or exceed growth forecasts from April. Exceptions are Sri Lanka, where agriculture was affected by drought and floods, and Bhutan, where geological problems have constrained construction on two large hydropower projects. Growth in Nepal surged in 2017 on earthquake recovery but is slowing as agriculture struggles, following severe flooding in August 2017. Inflation forecast in South Asia is lowered to 4.2% for 2017 and 4.7% for 2018. Favorable global commodity prices, good harvests, and prudent macroeconomics are expected. Author: Asian Development Bank Year: 2017 Download Tags: Asia, Development, Sustainability, Public Private Partnerships, South Asia, India, Sri Lanka, Agriculture, Bhutan, Hydropower, Energy, Nepal Myanmar’s Integration with the WorldMyanmar only recently began participating in global trade and investment. It has large untapped potential for trade and investment in agriculture and forest-based industries, and services, such as tourism and information technology. This book examines Myanmar’s access to the global market and examines the implication of Myanmar’s democratic transition, the progress of Myanmar’s industry and infrastructure, its international linkages, and options for increased integration in regional economic groups. The book also analyzes how Myanmar could exploit global value chains. Author: Prabir De and Ajitava Raychaudhuri, editors Year: 2017 Download Tags: Agriculture, Global Value Chains, Infrastructure, Investment, ICT, Myanmar, Regional Integration, Trade SARSO News: Vol. 31, No. 2The South Asian Regional Standards Organization (SARSO) newsletter features updates on SARSO events and activities. This issue features the publication of three South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation standards on food quality and safety, and the workshop on the importance of ISO 14001—which aims to help organizations improve environmental performance through the efficient use of resources and reduction of waste—and its impact on the environment and trade. It also has reports on Workshop on Conformity Standards held in New Delhi, India, and the Enhancing Capacity for Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Measures for Safe Trade in Animal and Animal Products in South Asia held in Kathmandu, Nepal. Author: South Asian Regional Standards Organization Year: 2017 Download Tags: Agriculture, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, SAARC, SARSO, South Asia, Standardization, Trade World Trade Organization Annual Report 2015The World Trade Organization (WTO) Annual Report 2015 provides an overview of WTO activities in 2014 and early 2015. It presents a timeline of two decades of the WTO -- from its origins succeeding the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade to its current role in the multilateral trading system. It presents a chapter on how WTO helps developing countries build trade capacity and allows them to implement trade agreements. WTO training courses are organized for officials from developing countries each year. Author: World Trade Organization Year: 2015 Download Tags: Trade, Trade Policy, WTO, Tariffs, Energy, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Trade Facilitation, Transport, Asia, Agriculture  Aid for Trade in Asia and the Pacific: Thinking Forward About Trade Costs and the Digital EconomyAid for Trade (AfT) flows have increased each year since 2006 in Asia and the Pacific. While regional aggregate trade costs continue to fall, many subregions still struggle with trade costs that are substantially higher than the global average. This report highlights and explores how AfT contributed to these emerging trends in Asia and the Pacific and how to continue to address trade costs moving forward. Among the subregions, the Pacific (along with South Asia) has made the greatest improvements in the Logistics Performance Index from 2007-2014. Recent exporter surveys reveal a movement toward niche products and leveraging of e-commerce as a means to overcome cost and distance. Emerging digital technologies such as e-commerce further offers a new set of opportunities for economies in the region to grow through trade. Author: Asian Development Bank Year: 2015 Download Tags: Aid for Trade, Asia-Pacific, ICT, South Asia, Trade, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Sri Lanka, Agriculture, Energy, Transport World Trade Report 2014 – Trade and Development: Recent Trends and the Role of the WTOThis annual publication highlights the relationship between trade and development, including changes since the start of the millennium. It identifies four key trends that altered the way trade affects development outcomes – accelerated economic growth in developing countries, expansion of global value chains, increase in agricultural and natural resource prices, and global nature of macroeconomic shocks. This report also explores how these trends have reshaped the role of trade in facilitating development and how recent development gains allow developing countries to adapt and mitigate risks. Author: World Trade Organization Year: 2014 Download Tags: WTO, Global Value Chains, Trade, Economic Growth, Agriculture, Trade Facilitation, Development, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, South Asia, Sri Lanka Unpacking the Bali Package: a Snapshot of Bali Ministerial Decisions of WTO MembersThe Bali Package represents a key turning point for the World Trade Organization. Covering trade facilitation, agriculture, and trade issues for developing and least-developed countries, it is set to increase trade activity on a global scale and lower the cost of doing international trade. This paper acts as a precursor to its implementation by identifying challenges countries may face, giving a brief history of each pillar, exploring the next possible steps for each ministerial decision, and examining the likely effects of this decision/agreement on various other stakeholders, particularly on consumers. Author: Archana Jatkar and Chenai Mukumba Year: 2014 Download Tags: Trade, Trade Facilitation, Trade Policy, WTO, Agriculture, Least Developed Countries, India SAARC Biz: The Inevitability of South Asia SAARC Biz is a monthly publication of the SAARC Chamber of Commerce & Industry and features a report on the 'Inevitability of South Asia'. While the term 'South Asia' is commonly accepted, it argues that regionalism is far from being implemented on the ground. For instance, SAARC was accepted as a concept of cross-border regionalism but was hobbled due to budget constraints and restrictive mandates. Connectivity across national frontiers is needed to jump-start regionalism and improve lives in the most deprived parts of the Subcontinent. Author: SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry Year: 2014 Download Tags: South Asia, Regional Cooperation, SAARC, Industrialization, Regional Integration, Poverty Reduction, Gender, Least Developed Countries, Connectivity, Agriculture, Bangladesh, Youth, India, Environment, Investment, Tourism, Renewables  Beyond Factory Asia: Fuelling Growth in a Changing WorldThis paper assesses the challenges of Factory Asia – a model of regional networks connecting production centers in different Asian economies. It forms part of regional and global value chains and constitutes an important source of growth in the region. Regional cooperation is vital to the success of Factory Asia, which calls for greater South-South cooperation to leverage knowledge in domestic manufacturing, allowing countries such as India to leapfrog to higher value chains. For Bangladesh and Sri Lanka with small domestic markets, strategic options include carving out a niche in lower-value manufacturing. The paper further argues that policymakers should be wary of expanding or increasing the number of free trade agreements for the growth or spread of production networks. Author: Asian Development Bank Year: 2013 Download Tags: South Asia, Regional Cooperation, Trade Policy, Manufacturing, Exports, Small and medium enterprises, India, Agriculture, Bangladesh Climate Action South Asia: Information Update No. 3 (The Economics of Climate Change in South Asia: Adaptation and Impact Assessment)Analyses show that the cost of early action on climate change in South Asia is lower than
the cost of damage brought about by climate change impacts. In physical terms, the region
will face water shortage and agricultural food production losses, which are vital to achieving
poverty reduction and other Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Author: Asian Development Bank Year: 2013 Download Tags: Economics, Climate, Agriculture, Climate Change, Environment, South Asia, Milennium Development Goals, Sustainability, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Maldives, Poverty Reduction, Hydropower, Energy The Provision of Regional Public Goods in South AsiaThis report reviews the provision of high priority regional public goods (RPGs) selected
for the South Asia subregion, and proposes areas of cooperation for improving the provisioning of RPGs in South Asia. It highlights the issues in cross border management of infrastructure projects and best practices in the provisioning of RPGs relevant for South Asia, evaluates ADB’s contributions to providing RPGs in the subregion, and concludes with recommendations on ADB’s South Asia Regional Department’s role in the provision of RPGs in the subregion. Author: Khaja Moinuddin Year: 2010 Download Tags: Energy, Agriculture, Disaster Risk, Governance, Poverty Reduction, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Trade Facilitation, Transport |
