Showing 1 - 10 of 45
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.
Biodiversity dividend
Asia focus, Apiradee Treerutkuarkul, Published on 16/08/2021
» Making biodiversity an integral part of economic and development strategy can bring a return on investment in economic, social and environmental terms. Southeast Asia, home to at least 60% of the world's tropical peatlands, 42% of all mangroves and 15% of tropical forests, has huge potential to capitalise such investments.
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.
Powering connectivity
Asia focus, Pattama Kuentak, Published on 22/03/2021
» Moving to Southeast Asia in the middle of a global pandemic wasn't an easy decision. But you'll hear nothing but enthusiasm from Alper Turken, a Turkey-born and now Singapore-based technology executive, in keeping with his curiosity and eagerness to explore new things.
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).
Family matters
Asia focus, Nareerat Wiriyapong, Published on 08/03/2021
» Driven mainly by the economic fallout from the protracted Covid pandemic, the tumultuous events of the past year have presented family businesses with unprecedented challenges.