"Now that the rescue operation following last month's devastating earthquake has ended, the focus has shifted to reconstruction, of an area about the size of Greece or Iceland. City planners are rushing to make blueprints for community reconstruction while the resources necessary in the massive task, from financial to personnel, are being tapped nationwide to rehabilitate the victims.

Among the roughly 30 million people affected by the quake, 5 million have lost their homes and are in immediate need of relocation. Direct losses from the quake could amount to $28.8 billion while indirect losses are still incalculable. Apart from the loss of lives and properties, a good number of public infrastructure such as railways, highways, bridges, power network, communication facilities and water conservancy works have been damaged or even destroyed. Lessons should be learnt from post-quake reconstruction in other countries."

"While Myanmar counts the cost of the Cyclone Nargis disaster and international aid agencies struggle to get relief supplies to an estimated 2.4 million homeless and desperate victims, time is running out for the country's rice farmers to plant new crops and help the country stave off famine. If seeds are not sewn within the next 30 says in the worst-hit Irrawaddy Delta, rice production will be dangerously reduced.

The cyclone disaster could soon shift the country from being a net rice exporter to importer, which will put new pressures on the country's already strained balance of payments. Imports of basic commodities and foodstuffs, all at very high international prices, will certainly increase and exports will fall dramatically."

"Crude prices are putting significant pressure on the Indian economy. While the government's decision not to pass on the rising costs to retail consumers has shielded them against run-away inflation, it has encouraged wasteful consumption of petroleum products and left oil marketing companies without any money. If not checked in time, this can seriously jeopardize the government's capital expenditure and, in turn, India's future economic growth.

Crude oil represents nearly 35% of India's energy basket. India imports 75% of its crude requirement. As a result, the spurt in crude prices is pushing up the import bill and widening the trade gap, which in turn, has led to weakening of the rupee. The rupee, which had gained nearly 10.8% during '07, has already lost 8.5% in '08."

"The construction work of a 25-kilometer direct road between Bangladesh and Myanmar is likely to begin by the middle of next year. Bangladesh's communications ministry has already started the process of selecting a consulting firm for conducting the feasibility study and making the cost estimation of the highway, which would boost trade and interaction between the peoples of the two neighboring countries.

Apart from facilitating trade between the two countries, the road link will also open up the possibility of a greater road network between Bangladesh and China and the South-East Asian countries including Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore. Apart from bearing the cost of the 2-km road inside the country, Bangladesh will finance construction of the 23-km road in Myanmar."

"Pakistan's Gwadar Port finally made history by beginning its cargo handling from March 15, 2008. That day included the arrival of the biggest ship that had ever docked at a Pakistani port. The port is ready to handle fertilizer and rice shipments for export, as proper bagging infrastructure is available at the proximity of the port.

The government has already declared Gwadar Port a petrochemical storage field and has sought a $12.5 billion investment from China. The port project aims to have facilities that could help to develop Gwadar as an industrial city that has privately owned warehouses and cold storage, private cargo handling equipment, truck yards and corporate infrastructure such as offices along the same lines as Jebel Ali, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore."

"How many operational banks are there in Vietnam and how many banks are enough for Vietnam? The State Bank of Vietnam has kicked off research on the issue. Statistics show that the number of operational banks in Vietnam is small compared to developed countries. However, experts say that there are too many for an economy as small as Vietnam's.

Experts have recently advised the State Bank of Vietnam to restructure the banking system, saying that it is necessary to reduce the number of operational banks, so that only the most capable banks exist. The suggestion was made as a lot of rural banks have begun operating as urban banks, and a lot of applications for setting up new banks have been submitted."

"The Indian ports sector has lined up a major capacity overhaul, but low productivity and infrastructure bottlenecks continue to stifle the performance of the country's major ports. Longer turnaround times and evacuation of cargo still plague Indian ports, despite their efforts at modernization of cargo handling mechanisms.

Even in terms of infrastructure, Indian ports need to ramp up their capacities. Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, India's premier container port, handles about 60 percent of India's container throughput; it has three terminals at present with a linear quay length of 600 meters that is adequate to accommodate nine vessels at a time. Compare this with PSA Singapore, which has four terminals with a quay length of 11,754 meters that can accommodate about 41 container vessels at a time."

"Malaysia's plan for a showpiece economic zone in its south is in doubt because of the uncertain fate of the country's prime minister and a lukewarm response from big investors in nearby Singapore. The project to develop the 2,200 sq kms of land in southern Johor state into a economic zone has so far drawn $10.5 billion in investment.

But Malaysia's track record in getting such grand projects off the ground is patchy and Singapore developers are looking to booming China and India instead, worried the plans will be shelved if Prime Minister Abdullah loses power. Rather than counting on its neighbors, Singapore has tried to overcome its lack of space by reclaiming land from the sea and shifting factories to the neighboring Indonesian island of Batam."

"Soaring energy and food prices will help push the Asia Pacific inflation rate to a forecast 3.6 percent this year from 2.7 percent last year, a regional think-tank said. At the same time, growth is tipped to slow to 3.7 percent from 4.9 percent in 2007, according to the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council.

It said inflation is the biggest worry for the region at a time of slowing growth in the United States, the world's largest economy and a major market for the region's export-reliant economies. Consumers are paying more for food and petrol throughout the region. The pain is particularly acute in Indonesia and China. Inflation in Indonesia is projected at 11.7 percent this year, nearly twice that of 6.6 percent in 2007 while in China, it is seen at 6 percent compared with 4.8 percent last year."

"Vietnam has become the most attractive country for retailers looking to open stores abroad. Vietnam dethroned India, which had the top spot three years straight on A.T. Kearney's Global Retail Development Index, which ranks countries based on a variety of factors such as economic and political risk, per capita income, market saturation and market attractiveness.

Vietnam's retail market is still small, but that the absence of competition and 8 percent gross domestic product growth make it attractive. Plus, Vietnamese consumers are among the youngest in Asia and are rapidly increasing their spending and moving to large cities."

Please share this e-newsline with others interested in the development of Asia-Pacific.

For questions, comments, complaints please visit our online contact form

To change your email address or to unsubsribe from ADBI e-newsline please visit:
http://www.adbi.org/e-newsline/subscribe.html

Sign-up for ADBI's free e-notification service to ensure you receive an e-mail when we post new publications and opportunities.

The stories and links selected and the views expressed in e-Newsline are those of the authors and editors and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the ADB Institute. The Institute does not endorse them and accepts no responsibility whatsoever for any consequences of their use. Original name usage is retained in quoted articles, although it may not necessarily follow ADB naming conventions.