"Tofu buildings. That's what rural Chinese have long called structures thrown up with remarkable speed. They look fine on the outside but aren't much sturdier than the bean curd on last night's dinner table. It is hardly news that China's building boom emphasized haste over quality. Yet it took this month's earthquake in Sichuan to underline the point, to heartbreaking effect.

A sudden wave of fear is rippling across the nation's 1.3 billion people. Seeing how easily schools and other vital structures crumbled in Sichuan is likely to have officials racing to bring buildings up to code. It puts a spotlight on the infrastructure arms race fuelling much of China's growth."

"The depreciating U.S. dollar and rising oil prices are taking a toll on East Timor's efforts to rebuild its shaky economy, according to President Ramos-Horta. East Timor, Asia's youngest nation, celebrated six years of independence this week following decades of harsh Indonesian rule. It is struggling to achieve economic and political stability despite being rich in oil and gas resources.

Although not a major oil and gas producing country, East Timor's offshore hydrocarbon resources earn it $100 million to $200 million a month. By the end of the year, the country will have $3 billion in its state petroleum fund, said Ramos-Horta. But the country -- whose 1 million people earn an average of less than a dollar a day -- cannot rely heavily on these earnings because of their low yields."

"Western donors have pledged about $100m in aid for Myanmar, contingent on the government following through with its promise to allow foreign aid workers and assessment teams into the country. The pledge comes after about 50 countries, as well as UN agencies and aid groups took part in a conference in Myanmar on Sunday.

Three weeks after cyclone Nargis hit the Irrawaddy delta, the UN says that three in four of those most in need of aid have yet to receive any help. About 2.4 million cyclone survivors are still short of food, water and shelter and many are at risk of dying from hunger or disease."

"Singapore is emerging as an Asian role model for infrastructure finance with its small but active public private partnership (PPP) program, Fitch Ratings has said. While other Asian countries have executed larger PPPs, only a few have had Singapore's success in sustaining a steady supply of new projects.

The program diversifies the way the city-state finances and operates key infrastructure projects. Singapore, with its project payment schemes, has developed an elegant incentive for PPP project development. The PPP payment mechanism that the government makes to the concessionaire is a powerful credit enhancement tool for the senior debt of an eligible PPP project."

"In China and India, the fight against poverty is benefiting from the trickle down approach. If you travel around small towns in India, you can see the impact of technology and simple indicators. Some years ago, you had to stand in a queue and wait five or six years to get a telephone connection. Today, people get land-lines and it's quite amazing to see everyone in rural India having mobile phones. There is a tremendous impact on poverty. Agriculture incomes are going up and per capita income is beginning to inch up.

The other impact is the economic reform, regardless of the political view of the party in power. Reforms need to be compelling otherwise businesses won't survive. The rise of China and India is talked about everywhere. This has made a big impact not only in Asia but globally. Today, in no board room around the world is there a board meeting without a discussion on the China strategy or the India strategy."

"Indonesia is handing out $1.5 billion in cash to its poorest residents to soften the blow of big fuel price rises -- a move that might bring the government short-term relief after weeks of protests. The government moved quickly in making initial payments of around $30 to tens of thousands of people.

The government was forced to cut subsidies on fuel to avoid a budget blowout amid the soaring cost of oil on the global market. It had been spending billions of dollars on the subsidies which, while keeping prices low for the poor, were also enjoyed by the rich."

"With food and energy prices already spiraling upwards, the UN fears a defeat of its plans to eliminate poverty and hunger. One solution is an agricultural renaissance that includes steering farm subsidies from developed countries to poorer nations. Japan's donation of $47.8 million to the World Food Program (WFP) Friday to alleviate severe food shortages in Africa, Asia and the Middle East will not be the last generosity from rich countries.

Any global solution to fill hungry stomachs, or prevent social unrest, is still beyond reach. In Asia, meat prices have risen 60 percent in Bangladesh, 45 percent in Cambodia and 30 percent in the Philippines. The prices of rice, the major food in Asia, have risen throughout the Asian continent, triggering hoarding in some places."

"Indonesia will set up a parent holding company for state-owned banks to comply with a regulation prohibiting any one party from owning a majority stake in more than one bank. Bank Indonesia, the country's central bank, has laid out a set of regulations aimed at strengthening the banking industry by increasing capital and improving risk management, transparency and accountability.

A regulation called the Single Presence Policy (SPP) bans any one party, whether private or government, from having majority ownership in more than one bank. The SPP is expected to help create a healthier and more dynamic banking industry -- the sector hit hardest by the 1997-1998 financial crisis. The regulation will officially take effect in 2010, but the central bank requires parties accountable under the ruling, including the government, to present a plan for compliance by June."

"Torn between protecting the poor and saving their budgets, governments across Asia are being forced to slash fuel subsidies. Indonesia and Malaysia have decided to wield the axe on multi-billion-dollar subsidies despite fears of unrest as inflation spikes and the region's poor pay more for fuel on top of the surge in food costs.

Even regional giant India, which until last week was happy to see state oil companies lose millions of dollars a day selling discounted fuel, said Friday that a price hike was inevitable. But while most price-setters could see the writing on the wall, China again dismissed rumors that it would change its central pricing system as it focused on containing inflation ahead of the Beijing Olympics."

"Urbanization is rapidly expanding in Vietnam's northern province, which is poised to be integrated into Hanoi within the next few months. The National Assembly is set to meet on the plan as developers facing throat-cutting land prices in Hanoi, propose townships, golf courses, tourism complexes and industrial parks. There are more than 130 new urban and industrial parks either under construction or in the early stages in Ha Tay.

Although farmers are happy with the compensation packages that allow them to build new houses and purchase appliances, they are worried about their prospects later down the road. Some look for jobs as store workers, artisans or in the industrial parks and construction projects. Sadly, most don't have the skills needed after spending their lives toiling under the sun."

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