"Finance ministers from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations wrapped up their two-day annual meeting Friday amid an economic slowdown in the U.S. and with food and fuel prices rising around the region. The ministers issued a statement acknowledging the difficult climate but expressing confidence in the Southeast Asia's underlying economic strength.

The ministers signed an agreement intended to promote regional trade by opening up their financial services sectors to one another. They also reiterated their commitment to a blueprint adopted last year that would transform the region into a European Union-style economic bloc by 2015. Goods, services, investment, skilled labor and capital would be allowed to move across borders freely under the ASEAN Economic Community, though it would not involve a single currency like the euro."

"The P40-billion-plus worth of agriculture-sector development programs announced by President Arroyo on Friday are expected by political and business observers to result in a great leap forward for the Philippine economy as a whole. The food security programs are expected to raise the productivity of rural areas, making the Philippines self-sufficient in rice and other basic agricultural products.

President Arroyo calls the agricultural-sector development plan 'FIELDS' (F is for fertilizer, I is for irrigation and infrastructure, E is for extension and education, L is for loans and insurance, D is for dryers and other post-harvest facilities, and S is for seeds). The rehabilitation of irrigation systems is expected to be completed by 2010. The plan includes P6 billion a year to be spent on irrigation and P6-billion on infrastructure, including farm-to-market roads, roll-on-roll-off ferry ports, and no-frills airports for agricultural cargo."

"Laos will soon take a significant step in its railway development with a humble, 2.17-mile line, but one linking it to a network projected to span all of Asia. Workers are putting the finishing touches to a station, embankments and a 1-meter gauge track from the Thailand-Laos Friendship Bridge across the Mekong River toward the country's capital of Vientiane. The line is expected to begin service in late April.

Enthusiastic officials view bringing rail to the mountainous, sparsely populated country as a spur to trade and tourism, helping pull it up from the ranks of the world's poorest nations. Although the initial track is short, it will connect the country to the seaports in neighboring Thailand and then elsewhere in Southeast Asia. Rail shipping would cost only one-fourth of truck transport and slash prices of imported goods. Further savings will come when Laos erects a facility to accept containers directly from seaports in Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore."

"The China-New Zealand free trade agreement, to be signed in Beijing on Monday, is expected to boost bilateral complementary and mutually beneficial trade ties. New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark, who is in China on a three-day official visit, will witness the signing of FTA with her Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao.

New Zealand is also the first developed country to recognize China's full market economy status. China and New Zealand formally launched the free trade negotiations in December 2004 and concluded the talks in December 2007 following 15 rounds of negotiations. The FTA will be the first comprehensive deal China to be signed with a Western developed nation."

"Indian inflation accelerated to a more than three-year high of seven percent, data showed Friday, fanning fears of interest rate hikes that could slow growth further in Asia's third-largest economy. Inflation -- which has more than doubled from a trough of 3.1 percent in October -- last touched seven percent in early December 2004 and is way above the central bank's declared tolerance level of five percent.

The government has already scrapped import duties on cooking oils and maize, extended a ban on pulse exports and on Friday stopped export incentives on basmati rice to boost local supplies after earlier banning non-basmati exports. A slew of interest rates hikes have already slowed the economy by driving up loan costs, hitting consumer demand and industrial growth. Economic growth is seen slowing to as low as seven percent in this fiscal year to March 2009 from around 8.8 percent last year."

"Indonesia plans to diversify its debt instruments this year as parts of an efforts to widen the investor base and to cope with the impact of volatile global financial markets. The finance ministry said it would buy back government bonds maturing 2008-2013. It will also bring forward plans to sell bonds to resource-rich regional governments in a bid to stabilize the market.

The government plans to issue treasury bills regularly from April, 3-year variable rate treasury bonds also from April, sharia bonds in August and retail bonds in September. The move comes after turmoil in domestic bond markets saw yields leap up partly due to expectations of rising domestic inflation and concerns about the economy."

"The rice price in the world's market has tripled in the first three months of the year, while Vietnam's export prices between mid February and early March 2008 rose by 53% over the same period last year. However, farmers are still weeping because they are incurring losses. Experts all predict that the rice price will keep increasing due to the sharp increase in the demand for food around the globe. While the demand is expected to increase, the output of big rice exporters like Thailand and Vietnam is decreasing due to bad weather.

High prices promise high export turnover for Vietnam. However, at this moment, ensuring food security is seen as top priority. Vietnam has announced caps on exporting at 3.5-4mil tons of rice this year, asking exporters not to sign new contracts until June 2008. The limitation on Vietnam's rice exports will surely be bad news for rice importing countries, which could lead to further escalations of rice prices."

"Governments of Pacific island economies need to review labor legislation in efforts to reduce youth unemployment and promote women in the workforce, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) reports in its latest publication Improving Employment Opportunities in Pacific Island Developing Countries. ESCAP says the legislation needs to respond to changing macroeconomic and business conditions. While recognizing the need for change, it also calls for the maintenance of adequate protection for workers and continued strengthening of skill development programs.

For improvements in labor market conditions to occur, governments should look to economic and structural reforms to boost growth, and expand training and industry promotion activities. Many of the countries are revising and updating their labor legislation, with the aim of reflecting changing market conditions. But improving labor market flexibility while maintaining adequate protection for workers requires considerable political will."

"With the Ho Chi Minh City port, gateway to booming Vietnam, rapidly becoming overwhelmed, ambitious expansion plans cannot be realized soon enough. Last year, Vietnam witnessed a leap in maritime cargo of more than 17 percent. Container traffic alone shot up by 30 percent, according to official figures. It's a symptom of one of the world's fastest growing economies, with 8.5 percent GDP expansion last year aided by soaring foreign investment and recent entry into the World Trade Organization.

For the ports alone, an estimated $5 billion in investment will be needed up to 2015. The country has 266 seaports in 24 cities and provinces which handle over 80 percent of all imports and exports. However, only nine ports could be upgraded to handle 50,000 DWT (dead weight ton) cargo ships. Experts have warned that port infrastructure would soon be overloaded and logjammed as Vietnam's trade keeps growing."

"According to the Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific for 2008, public debt remains a serious problem for most countries in South Asia, including Sri Lanka. While domestic public debt is becoming a larger component of total public debt, it has received relatively less attention despite its serious economic and social implications.

Excessive reliance on debt, whether domestic or external, carries macroeconomic risks that can hinder economic and social development. High domestic public debt also pushes up interest rates and crowds out private investment which is much needed to promote economic growth. The government must sustain a high growth rate or reduce the budget deficit in order to effectively manage its debt. The 2007 public debt to GDP ratio stood at 88 percent. Furthermore, in order to bring down the budget deficit, the government must reduce subsidies and wastage."

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