"Today world class roads and bridges crisscross the Mekong region, allowing for an ever-increasing flow of goods and people. Since their initial agreement in 1992, GMS nations' exports have more than quadrupled, with foreign direct investment increasing seven-fold. Most importantly, millions of families have been freed from poverty, and more children than ever are enjoying good health, and a quality basic education.

Of course, this is cause for celebration. Nonetheless, issues remain. Extreme poverty continues to plague one in every five families in the Mekong Basin, and needless barriers to trade and development continue to constrain the region's competitiveness. Today, despite the current crisis, the Mekong countries must take bold steps. They need to aim high. With the right set of policy initiatives, backed by strong political will, it is easy to envision the GMS as a single economic sub-region with integrated markets and dynamic production centers."

"We can't say with any certainty what Jakarta will look like 10 or 20 years from now. But as the city celebrates its 482nd anniversary on Monday, one thing we can be sure of -- it will keep growing in line with other major urban centers. Jakarta's own population has been growing exponentially, making it one of the largest cities in Asia and a classic urban magnet for rural people looking for a better life and more opportunities. Today, anywhere between 15 million and 18 million people live in the greater Jakarta area.

Modern Jakarta urgently needs to upgrade its creaking infrastructure. It needs to build a mass rapid transit system, improve roads and water systems, control the annual flooding that paralyzes the city and causes millions of dollars in damage, develop high-quality public housing and build parks and recreation facilities. It is unacceptable that as the capital city, it experiences rolling power blackouts with increasing frequency and is probably the only major capital city in the region without a proper sanitation system."

"Poverty in Pakistan is estimated to have risen in fiscal year 2008-09 with high domestic inflation caused by soaring food and energy prices, says the Asian Development Bank. A survey indicates that the impact of food price increases on poverty level is substantially greater than the impact of energy price rises. The ADB states overall a 20 percent increase in food prices will lead to an 8 percent increase in poverty.

The challenge of poverty alleviation remains huge. Even with a poverty level of an estimated 22.3 percent in 2005-06, roughly 35 million people still live below the poverty line. This is higher than the number of poor in 1996-97. Furthermore, rural poverty is substantially larger than urban areas. The estimated level of poverty in 1990 was 26 percent which needs to be cut to 13 percent by 2015 if the MDG target is to be met."

"Initial estimates show that returning global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions to 2005 levels by 2030 would require a large shift in the pattern of investment. Asia and the Pacific will need up to $6.4 trillion in new energy infrastructure by 2030, which provides enormous potential for mainstreaming climate change into development policy.

There have been some positive developments with regard to the availability of financial resources to address climate change. Private equity investments in clean energy (excluding energy efficiency) have increased dramatically over the last half decade, from $760 million in 2001 to more than $7 billion in 2005. Because of the long life time of energy plants and other capital stock, future energy infrastructure investment decisions, expected to total over $20 trillion between now and 2030, will have long-term impacts on greenhouse gases emissions."

"The Philippines' poor growth performance is expected to continue in the long run with the existence of deep constraints in its system, according to the Philippine Institute for Development (PIDS). But while the country has better economic fundamentals and has been showing signs of resiliency amidst the current crisis it is still in the mediocre growth levels as such growth in the long-term continues to be bleak. The country's economic performance still lags behind that of its neighbors and is still far from regaining its historical high levels of per capita output as well as rapid growth experienced in the 1950s.

Empirical studies point to the relationship of institutions and long-term growth, and the strength of institutions will determine the growth path of a country. To raise the country's growth trajectory, PIDS prescribes a sustained policy reform; less hand-wringing over Filipino culture and corruption, and for the government to have focused and sustained development of functional capitalistic institutions."

"Nepal's trade deficit with China soared by 36 percent last year and, in fact, has almost doubled in the last two years. It is not surprising Chinese imports are growing at a fast pace, as this has been a global phenomenon. But what is disturbing is the fact that Nepal's exports to China are continuously shrinking. Nepal is no longer competitive in the rapidly modernizing Chinese consumer market. Currently, Nepal has almost no commodities that have a secure market in China.

The railway connection between Tibet's autonomous region and China's big cities has played an important role in squeezing Nepal's export to China. The railway enabled Chinese goods to be more cost effective in the booming cities of Tibet than those goods imported from Nepal, thus almost removing the market for once thriving exports of construction materials completely. Nepal's government, however, is optimistic the widening trade deficit will start to decline once both countries finalize proposed duty-free access for Nepali products into the Chinese market."

"Net private capital inflows to developing countries fell to $707 billion in 2008, a sharp drop from a peak of $1.2 trillion in 2007. International capital flows are projected to fall further in 2009 to $363 billion, the World Bank said in a report. The risk of balance-of-payments crises and corporate debt restructurings in many countries are of particular concern.

The report warned that the world is entering an era of slower growth that will require tighter and more effective oversight of the financial system. Developing countries are expected to grow by only 1.2 percent this year, after 8.1 percent growth in 2007 and 5.9 percent growth in 2008. When China and India are excluded, GDP in the remaining developing countries is projected to fall by 1.6 percent, causing continued job losses and throwing more people into poverty."

"Barely 11% of the relevant age group were enrolled in higher education in India in 2007. The Indian state has been so under-invested in education as a whole since independence in 1947, that higher education was bound to arrive at this juncture. During the 11th-plan period (2007-2012) the objective is to increase the enrollment rate to 15%. The government of India has raised allocations for higher and technical education to five times the allocation made during the preceding five-year plan period. However, major constraints remain toward achieving this otherwise laudable objective.

Quality is also affected by the fact that most degree colleges and universities recover less than 20% of their per student costs from fees levied on students. After 1990, with governments turning their attention seriously to elementary education, public funding for higher education tended to stagnate. Thus, an already highly skewed higher education system - with elite institutions at one end of the spectrum and low-quality, degree-awarding mass colleges on the other - became even more inefficient as a provider of skilled manpower to a growing economy."

"Vietnam's trade deficit may narrow this year for the first time since 2005, driven by a surge in sales of imported gold and weaker purchases of foreign goods, according to economists. The trade shortfall may decline to about $6 billion in 2009 from a record $17.5 billion last year. Vietnam hasn't had a full-year trade surplus since 1992.

The widening of the deficit last year from $14.1 billion in 2007 and $5.1 billion in the previous 12 months raised concerns about a potential balance-of-payments crisis. Vietnam's export performance is improving, though re-exports of previously imported gold helped boost shipments earlier in the year. Sales of the metal are unlikely to be maintained for the rest of the year. Vietnam was a major importer of gold in 2008, according to the World Bank."

"Japan has decided to extend yen loans to four Asian countries to assist their efforts to fight global warming, government sources said Sunday. Under its Climate Change Program Loans, the government will provide tens of billions of yen in loans to Bangladesh, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. Japan plans to extend up to 500 billion yen in yen loans over the next five years under the program. It has already decided to extend 30.8 billion yen in yen loans to Indonesia.

The assistance will become a highlight of Japan's policy to support developing nations' efforts to tackle climate change, which was recently announced by Prime Minister Aso. The move is also aimed at increasing support among developing nations for Tokyo's initiative to craft a global treaty on curbing greenhouse gas emissions after the 1997 Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012, observers said."

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