Showing 1 - 10 of 28
Funding the future
Asia focus, Nareerat Wiriyapong, Published on 18/07/2022
» Makhtar Diop is energetic, always eager to learn new things, and a humble leader. Since becoming managing director of the International Finance Corp (IFC) in March last year, the Senegalese economist has been actively exploring potential areas where the World Bank affiliate could expand as a financial backer, including the health sector, with a focus on Africa.
Myanmar soldiers collecting bills at gunpoint
Asia focus, By Richard C Paddock of the New York Times, Published on 31/01/2022
» The schoolteacher had just got out of bed when four Myanmar army soldiers pounded on her door. Her electricity payment was overdue, they said, and ordered her to pay it immediately at the government power company office.
Moving to Nusantara
Asia focus, Ismira Lutfia Tisnadibrata, Published on 31/01/2022
» With the recent passage of the state capital bill into law, Indonesian President Joko Widodo is a step closer to cementing his ultimate infrastructure legacy.
Year of Turbulence
Asia focus, Asia Focus Team, Published on 27/12/2021
» Pandemic drags on recovery: In the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, many Asian countries had enviable success, avoiding large-scale outbreaks and mass deaths. But the arrival of the more transmissible Delta variant this year and sluggish vaccine rollouts compounded by low availability sent cases surging. Combined with poor monitoring and easy movement among countries, often unofficially, Southeast Asia became a virus hotspot. The ballooning health crisis collided with churning political discontent in the case of Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia. Economically, the new wave of infections, and attendant restrictions imposed to curb the spread, stalled recoveries. After nearly two years of strict border controls, many countries started to loosen up and live with Covid. But the rise of the Omicron variant now threatens to scuttle those tentative reopening plans and usher in a third year of economic anxiety.
Next in healthcare
Asia focus, Pattama Kuentak, Published on 06/09/2021
» Most Southeast Asian nations were praised last year for their swift response to Covid-19, but now they're scrambling to curb a more infectious Delta variant that is surging across the world.
Common ground
Asia focus, Ismira Lutfia Tisnadibrata, Published on 28/06/2021
» The European Union (EU) is turning east as it seeks to increase its presence in the Indo-Pacific region, where the major events of the current century will unfold, by forming closer relationships with Asean and its members.
Helping women from the ground up
Asia focus, Nareerat Wiriyapong, Published on 15/03/2021
» We women have had a couple of things to celebrate lately. The first thing that comes to my mind is the Japanese government's decision last Tuesday -- the day after International Women's Day -- to nominate Junko Nakagawa to the board of the Bank of Japan (BoJ).
Sport and sexism in Japan
Asia focus, Nareerat Wiriyapong, Published on 22/02/2021
» Congratulations to Seiko Hashimoto, Japan's former Olympics minister, who has taken the helm of the troubled Tokyo Games, after her predecessor quit amid an uproar over his sexist remarks.
America's new opportunity in Asia
Asia focus, Nareerat Wiriyapong, Published on 25/01/2021
» Listening to Kamala Harris's speeches is really inspiring. "I may be the first woman to hold this office. But I won't be the last," the 56-year-old half-Asian declared after being elected to the vice presidency of the United States.
China's misplaced pandemic propaganda
Asia focus, Minxin Pei, Published on 13/04/2020
» Barely a month ago, China was in the grip of the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak. Thousands of new infections were being confirmed every day. Hospitals were overwhelmed. People were dying by the hundreds. People couldn't leave their homes.