Asia's Developing Future

Asia’s emerging economies are becoming more focused on the region and less dependent on global markets, but they need to protect themselves from risks of becoming too reliant on the emerging giants such as the People’s Republic of China. The Global Financial Crisis of 2009 had less of an impact on emerging Asia in part because it had weathered its own storm in 1998, and it was more reliant on regional than global links for trade and investment.

Read the transcript:

http://bit.ly/2x4yFmc

Watch the complete presentation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QA9YUZW2a3s&feature=youtu.be

Know more about 20 Years after the Asian Financial Crisis: Lessons, Challenges:

http://bit.ly/2oYbBk6

Know more about ADBI’s work on the Asian financial crisis:

http://bit.ly/2wfxDG8

Digital financial services are being used to draw more people into the global financial system. Digital financial services must therefore be developed and regulated to safeguard against risk and to secure consumer protection.

Different approaches to regulation, as in Cambodia and in the Philippines, show how regulations can hinder or spur growth.

Read the transcript:

http://bit.ly/2fvgX6L

Read the policy brief, Financial Inclusion in the Digital Age:

https://www.adb.org/publications/financial-inclusion-digital-age

Authors:

Shawn Hunter, manager, Inclusive Finance, The Foundation for Development Cooperation

Valdimir dela Cruz, ADBI associate at the time the brief was published

David Dole, ADBI senior economist https://www.adb.org/adbi/about/staff-profiles/david-dole

As finance becomes more inclusive, financial services will reach people who have no experience with formal finance structures, and they may fail to use the services fully or properly. Financial education is a crucial component of successful financial inclusion. Even in advanced economies, significant gaps remain in financial literacy.

This episode discusses financial literacy in Japan and Malaysia.

Read the transcript

http://bit.ly/2vpb0we

Read the policy brief

https://www.adb.org/publications/financial-inclusion-digital-age

Authors

Shawn Hunter, manager, Inclusive Finance, The Foundation for Development Cooperation

Valdimir dela Cruz, ADBI associate at the time the brief was published

David Dole, ADBI senior economist https://www.adb.org/adbi/about/staff-profiles/david-dole.

E-commerce is increasingly leading the way in the global marketplace, taking a bigger share of world trade, creating more jobs, and pushing economic growth, but also challenging Asia’s developing economies.

Although most e-commerce transactions occur in developed markets such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland, and Japan, developing countries led by those in Asia are catching up. Many are important buyers and sellers of goods and services online.

Read the transcript:

http://bit.ly/2urmimp

Read the policy brief, The Development Dimension of E-Commerce in Asia: Opportunities and Challenges:

https://www.adb.org/publications/development-dimension-e-commerce-asia-opportunities-and-challenges

Authors:

Aladdin Rillo, ADBI senior economist https://www.adb.org/adbi/about/staff-profiles/aladdin-rillo

Valdimir dela Cruz, former ADBI research associate

Africa and Asia are latecomers to urbanization. In these two continents, less than half live in urban centers, while elsewhere, more than 70% of people do. But Africa and Asia are now rapidly urbanizing, with Asian cities growing at an average of 1.5% per year and Africa’s at 1.1% per year.

While the world’s largest megacities of 10 million people or more are in Asia, Africa’s urban populations have been catching up. Incoming residents are competing for new financial and social opportunities but are placing increasing demands on city resources and services.

Increasingly, the importance of the transferability of Asian experiences to other regions is being recognized for more efficient development paths.

Read the transcript

http://bit.ly/2uXYTrb

Read the blog post

https://www.asiapathways-adbi.org/2017/07/pointers-from-asia-for-urbanization-in-africa/

Authors

Naoyuki Yoshino, ADBI dean

https://www.adb.org/adbi/about/dean

Matthias Helble, ADBI senior research economist and Research Department co-chair

https://www.adb.org/adbi/about/staff-profiles/matthias-helble

Grant B. Stillman, ADBI legal adviser

https://www.adb.org/adbi/about/staff-profiles/grant-stillman

Digital technology can speed up economic growth, but only if people have the right skills, said the panelists at the Asian Development Bank annual meeting in May. ADBI research fellow Alisa DiCaprio told Devex that the bank can advance technology diffusion and adoption, and should invest in information and communication technology or ICT where progress has not benefited the many.

Read the transcript:

http://bit.ly/2u1CVAO

Read the article and watch the interview:

https://www.devex.com/news/adb-and-the-fourth-industrial-revolution-90242

Featuring Alisa DiCaprio

https://www.adb.org/adbi/about/staff-profiles/alisa-dicaprio

Agriculture in Central Asia and the Caucasus not only ensures the food supply, but also supports the majority of the rural population and creates jobs. Although agriculture’s share of gross domestic product or GDP has declined since 2000, it still accounts for a large proportion of GDP in several countries. Tajikistan’s agriculture sector makes up over one quarter of GDP. Armenia accounts over a fifth of GDP to agriculture, while and Uzbekistan and the Kyrgyz Republic have a little under a fifth.

Even so, the relatively small market and reliance on a narrow range of agro-food products have dampened farm output. In order to raise outputs and cash to meet the growing domestic and international demand, the region needs to jointly develop and integrate their agricultural value chains. These value chains encompass the goods and services required for a product to move from farm to consumer.

Read the transcript

http://bit.ly/2uYsQHU

Read the policy brief

https://www.adb.org/publications/promoting-agricultural-value-chain-integration-central-asia-and-caucasus

Authors

Aladdin Rillo https://www.adb.org/adbi/about/staff-profiles/aladdin-rillo

Suryo Ariyanto Nugroho https://www.adb.org/adbi/about/staff-profiles/suryo-ariyanto-nugroho

Farms need the right policies, regulations, and institutions backing them. They need access to credit and adequate market infrastructure, support for technology and innovation, and greater opportunities for private sector investment.

With these reforms in place, countries will be able to access new markets and meet growing local and overseas demand, which will create jobs and boost incomes of the rural poor. Landlocked economies stand to benefit, thanks to cross-border production sharing and investments. An integrated value chain can make all the players more productive and efficient and contribute to agriculture-driven economic growth.

Read the transcript

http://bit.ly/2v6NGpG

Read the policy brief

https://www.adb.org/publications/promoting-agricultural-value-chain-integration-central-asia-and-caucasus

Authors

Aladdin Rillo, ADBI senior economist https://www.adb.org/adbi/about/staff-profiles/aladdin-rillo

Suryo Ariyanto Nugroho, ADBI research associate https://www.adb.org/adbi/about/staff-profiles/suryo-ariyanto-nugroho

Putting savings to work is crucial for Asia’s developing economies. In developing Asia, however, access to credit, savings and payment services remains limited. In 2014, only 36 percent of adults in East Asia and the Pacific had formal savings accounts and only 11 percent had access to formal credit.

With more than 600,000 branches worldwide, post offices provide an alternative to rural people to access services that traditional financial institutions cannot provide. So developing postal savings may be good for increasing financial inclusion, reducing poverty and achieving higher economic growth.

Read the transcript

http://bit.ly/2uYep6O

Read the policy brief

https://www.adb.org/publications/innovating-financial-inclusion-postal-savings-system-revisited

Authors

Aladdin Rillo, ADBI senior economist https://www.adb.org/adbi/about/staff-profiles/aladdin-rillo

Jeffrey Miyamoto, former ADBI research associate

In a blockchain, each block is “chained” to the previous one in a peer-to-peer data sharing network.

We’ve all heard the buzz about the potential applications of blockchain technology. But what’s actually happening in developing countries in Asia and the Pacific?

Beyond bitcoin payments and remittances, blockchain exists largely in the pilot stage. Governments and banks are collaborating with technology firms to see if it can be used to solve persistent problems like traceability, identification, and trust.

Let’s bring some clarity to the hypotheticals. But first, what exactly is blockchain? It's a type of database that takes records and puts them in a block (akin to, say, a sheet in your Excel file).

Each block is then “chained” to the previous block, using a cryptographic signature. This allows blockchains to be used like a ledger, which can be shared and corroborated by anyone with permission.

In short, it’s peer-to-peer sharing of data – it does not require a trusted intermediary.

Read the blog post

https://www.asiapathways-adbi.org/2017/07/blockchain-pilots-making-waves-in-developing-asia/

https://blogs.adb.org/blog/blockchain-pilots-making-waves-developing-asia

Authors

Alisa DiCaprio, ADBI research fellow

https://www.asiapathways-adbi.org/author/alisa-decaprio/

Steven Beck, Asian Development Bank head of trade finance

https://www.asiapathways-adbi.org/author/steven-beck/