Asia's Developing Future

Asia's Developing Future

By Asian Development Bank InstituteEducation
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Asia's Developing Future episodes

  • The New Silk Road and its network of projects could be a “win-win” for all
    Linking the People's Republic of China with Asia, Africa, and Europe by land and sea can be a win-win for China and its partner countries, if the trillions of dollars China plans to invest in infrastructure will benefit its partners, too. Jean François Gautrin of the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research explains.
    Read the transcript
    https://bit.ly/2zk7ZjR
    Read the report
    https://www.asiapathways-adbi.org/2018/03/one-belt-one-road-and-the-risks-behind-the-win-win-situation/
    About the author
    Jean François Gautrin is an associate research fellow at the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research.
    Know more about ADBI’s work
    https://bit.ly/2Bn3w1r
    https://bit.ly/2A4Juqo
    4 min
  • Financial inclusion needs to be part of the government’s strategy in the Kyrgyz Republic
    More than 60% of adults in the Kyrgyz Republic do not have access to financial products and services, and many still prefer to keep their money under a mattress. While a quarter of the adult population have savings, only 3% have money saved in financial institutions.
    Nor do people have much use for credit. Only 10.2% of adults have borrowed from a financial institution or used a credit card, a number that’s below global averages.
    Lack of access to banks and credit keep the poor from escaping poverty because they don’t have the means to invest in a business, education, or even their own health.
    Savia Hasanova describes recent developments in financial inclusion and financial literacy in the Kyrgyz Republic.
    Read the transcript
    https://bit.ly/2A8BRiN
    Read the working paper
    https://www.adb.org/publications/financial-inclusion-regulation-literacy-education-kyrgyz-republic
    About the author
    Savia Hasanova is an economic expert at the Investment Round Table in the Kyrgyz Republic.
    Know more about ADBI’s work
    https://bit.ly/2FvHnlp
    https://bit.ly/2Q7znLQ
    7 min
  • Different laws reflect a country’s unique culture and can hinder or stimulate innovation
    Laws in developing countries generally reflect their unique cultures, which may restrict innovation and risk-taking, throwing obstacles in the path to development.
    Strong legal mechanisms, including intellectual property rights and patent protection, allow innovation to thrive.
    More than elsewhere in Asia, Southeast Asian countries emphasize the economic value of intellectual property rights on patents, but enforcement varies and so does their attraction for investors.
    Douglas Cumming of the Schulich School of Business in York University and Sofia Johan of the Tilburg Law and Economics Centre of the University of Tilburg discuss the relationship between law and culture on innovation.
    Read the transcript
    https://bit.ly/2RQL4DS
    Read the working paper
    https://www.adb.org/publications/law-culture-and-innovation
    About the authors
    Douglas Cumming is a professor and Ontario research chair of the Schulich School of Business, York University, Canada.
    Sofia Johan is an extramural research fellow of the Tilburg Law and Economics Centre, University of Tilburg, The Netherlands.
    Know more about ADBI’s work
    https://bit.ly/2B3x7N2
    https://bit.ly/2RRNIcl
    5 min
  • Social networks facilitate informal finance in the People's Republic of China
    In Chinese culture, as in most other cultures, whom you know is often more important than what you know, and social networks of relatives, friends, or local links are recognized as important to cultivate for help in job hunting, career promotion, or gathering and disseminating information.
    In developed economies, it’s called “networking,” or informal exchanges of business cards and ideas with like-minded people in social settings.
    In the Peoples Republic of China, and among the Chinese diaspora, it’s called “guanxi”—whom to call when something needs to be done, in an exchange of favors or potential influence—and it has long played a crucial role in facilitating informal credit activities.
    Read the transcript
    https://bit.ly/2FkxZB7
    Read the working paper
    https://www.adb.org/publications/social-networks-and-informal-inclusion-prc
    About the authors
    Shijun Chai is a lecturer at Xinyang Normal University.
    Yang Chen is a lecturer at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University in Suzhou.
    Dezhu Ye is a professor at Jinan University in Guangzhou.
    Bihong Huang is a research fellow at the Asian Development Bank Institute.
    Know more about ADBI’s work
    https://bit.ly/2zMjgZC
    https://bit.ly/2B4j0az
    7 min
  • Successful urbanization could free developing countries from the middle-income trap
    Scores of countries have fallen and are falling into the middle-income trap as they strive to develop. And, because of income inequality, aging populations, and a lack of growth impetus, some may never escape.
    Of the world’s 199 countries and semi-sovereign economies, 88 are stuck in the middle-income trap: 20 are in Europe, 18 in North America, 16 in Asia, 15 in Africa, 11 in South America, and 8 in Oceania.
    Chen Wang of Shanghai University of Finance and Economics and Jiajun Lan of the Wang Yanan Institute for Studies in Economics at Xiamen University describe the challenges middle-income countries face.
    Read the transcript
    https://bit.ly/2AR7S0C
    Read the working paper
    https://www.adb.org/publications/inequality-aging-and-middle-income-trap
    About the authors
    Chen Wang is an assistant professor at the School of Urban and Regional Science, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics.
    Jiajun Lan is a PhD candidate at the Wang Yanan Institute for Studies in Economics, Xiamen University, People’s Republic of China.
    Know more about ADBI’s work
    https://bit.ly/2zwlL2i
    https://bit.ly/2B1ByVS
    7 min
  • Stronger credit data systems boost services
    Timely and accurate credit information is critical to a well-functioning financial industry and essential for any government to maintain financial stability.
    About a third of credit bureaus consider only negative data and provide an incomplete, and often inaccurate, assessment of a borrower’s risks. Governments should collect comprehensive data on each level of business in each sector. Data should also be made available to registries and bureaus to improve their abilities in providing public services, creating policy, and conducting statistical analysis, but individuals should be allowed to protect data from others.
    These comprehensive data, paired with those from other sources, can present an accurate and complete description of an individual so financial services can be better tailored to suit individual needs.
    Read the transcript
    https://bit.ly/2RIjhW5
    Read the policy brief
    https://www.adb.org/publications/financial-inclusion-digital-age
    About the authors
    Shawn Hunter is manager of inclusive finance at the Foundation for Development Cooperation.
    David Dole is senior capacity building and training economist at the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI).
    Valdimir dela Cruz was an associate at ADBI at the time this policy brief was written.
    Know more about ADBI’s work
    https://bit.ly/2QnNCcj
    https://bit.ly/2SRd6A8
    4 min
  • Increased monitoring is essential for Asian countries’ smooth economic integration
    Asia is becoming more integrated than ever before and so requires increased monitoring. While integration has increased overall, the movement of goods, services, and people across borders has grown unevenly across sectors and subregions. Policy makers need to be guided through the complex process to benefit from a smooth and successful integration.
    Read the transcript
    https://bit.ly/2OfFoAT
    Read the policy brief
    https://www.adb.org/publications/monitoring-regional-economic-integration-asia
    About the authors
    Aladdin D. Rillo was senior economist at the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI) in Tokyo at the time this policy brief was written.
    Valdimir dela Cruz was an associate at ADBI at the time this policy brief was written.
    Know more about ADBI’s work
    https://bit.ly/2nCIC6N
    https://bit.ly/2AjebGY
    4 min
  • Pacific island countries need to clear many hurdles to get into export markets
    As the economies of these countries have diversified, their exports have increased to almost three times what they were 2 decades ago. But the gains have been intermittent—and countries need to do more to access Asian markets to boost export revenues further.
    Businesses need to be able to ship more to export markets. Instead of maintaining trade barriers, governments should support them and help link them to buyers and distributors.
    Those are some of the hurdles discussed in the policy brief by Wawan Juswanto and Zulfiqar Ali of the Asian Development Bank Institute.
    Read the transcript
    https://bit.ly/2qhLxmv
    Read the policy brief
    https://www.adb.org/publications/economic-growth-and-sustainable-development-pacific-island-countries
    About the authors
    Wawan Juswanto is special advisor to the dean of the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI).
    Zulfiqar Ali was a research associate at ADBI at the time this policy brief was written.
    Know more about ADBI’s work
    https://bit.ly/2JpxtjP
    https://bit.ly/2zfIPlO
    5 min
  • Freer trade can raise living standards and bring down the prices of goods and services
    The gap between the rich and the poor in Viet Nam has narrowed, thanks to increased imports from the People’s Republic of China. Data collected from 2002 to 2014 show that lower-income groups benefited more than higher-income ones. Numerous studies show that international trade can fuel economic growth and that open economies are generally more prosperous than more protectionist ones. Apart from creating jobs, freer trade can raise living standards and bring down the prices of goods and services.
    Read the transcript
    https://bit.ly/2AoRAvy
    Read the working paper
    https://www.adb.org/publications/impact-import-competition-prc-income-inequality-household-welfare-viet-nam
    About the authors
    Matthias Helble was senior economist and ADBI Research Department co-chair at the time the study was published.
    Trang T. Le is an assistant professor at the Banking Academy in Viet Nam.
    Trinh Q. Long is a project consultant at ADBI.
    Know more about ADBI’s work
    https://bit.ly/2yX6UxG
    https://bit.ly/2EHk87B
    5 min
  • Small-scale solar systems would be better for developing countries
    Developing countries in Asia can leapfrog old fossil-fuel energy systems and promote the use of environment-friendly solar-power systems as their growing economies need more and more energy.
    By 2050, 85% of the world’s estimated 9.7 billion people will live in emerging countries, and about 70% will live in cities, according to a United Nations report. Growing populations will lead to soaring energy demands in the mega-cities that will continue to sprawl.
    Small-scale solar systems would be better for developing countries than big solar farms since they have less of an environmental impact and are more suited to the dense urban environments where the power is needed.
    Read the transcript
    https://bit.ly/2JeCvj9
    Read the working paper
    https://www.adb.org/publications/financing-solar-photovoltaic-transitions-utility-residential-market-adoption
    About the authors
    Ranaporn Tantiwechwuttikul is a PhD candidate at the Graduate School of Frontier Sciences of the University of Tokyo.
    Masaru Yarime is an associate professor at the School of Energy and Environment of the City University of Hong Kong.
    Know more about ADBI’s work
    https://bit.ly/2yuMoFc
    https://bit.ly/2q8018u
    4 min

About Asia's Developing Future

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ADBI is the think tank of the Asian Development Bank. We conduct policy research and capacity building to drive sustainable development in Asia and the Pacific.

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