"The Bangladesh government will offer energy projects worth $5 billion to global firms for investment during overseas road shows in London, New York and Singapore slated for next month. The projects include large power plants and a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal. The power ministry will urge international reputed companies to invest in the $4 billion power projects and $1 billion LNG terminal.

Several multilateral donor agencies, including the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and Japan International Cooperation Agency, have already committed to provide funds worth $3 billion for building the independent power producer (IPP) projects. Four coal-based power plants to generate a total of 2,000 mw of electricity and two furnace oil-run IPP projects to generate 100 mw of electricity are also planned for offer for investment."

"Papua is one of the most underdeveloped regions in Indonesia. Who is actually responsible for creating that poverty? In Papua, the rate of education is very low and people have been known to die from starvation. Forests, rivers and the sea could supply almost every need; wood for housing, various plants for medicine, unlimited land for farming, and animals and fish for consumption. With a little advanced knowledge and technology to manage these great resources, Papuans would certainly lack nothing they would need to live a good life.

Papuans have now become absolutely dependent on other resources. And to get them they must buy them at four to six times the price. They buy clothes, rice, medicine and even building materials from Java. This is a problem, but there is something much bigger; while they must buy everything from Java, on the other hand, they sell almost nothing to Java."

"The agricultural sector in Viet Nam has drawn up a roadmap to deal with climate change and it is estimated that the total cost for the relevant programs and projects will reach nearly $40 billion. The government is calling on international organizations to invest in ensuring food security, developing irrigation projects to adapt to climate change, reducing deforestation and assisting people who need to be relocated due to rising sea levels.

The government plans to meet 50 percent of the total cost by using funding provided by the international community, equivalent to $20 billion. Japan will help Viet Nam deal with rising sea levels and will focus on 23 provinces and cities, according to the Japanese International Cooperation Agency."

"The Sri Lankan government wants to encourage rubber and coconut cultivation outside traditional areas of production, according to the plantations minister. He said there was high demand for land to grow coconut in the east, after the end of the ethnic war made cultivation there commercially viable. The eastern province and Anuradhapura, in the north-central province, is also being considered for rubber cultivation because they are in the dry zone and rainfall is limited.

Most rubber estates are found in the wet zone and tapping of latex from the trees is interrupted during rainy days unless rubber guards are deployed. New areas planted with rubber in the southern Moneragala district, also in the dry zone, should increase production in the future, while helping to alleviate poverty in the region, one of the most neglected in the country."

"Ten companies from eight countries have sought permission to invest in solar energy projects in Cambodia after the August removal of a 15 percent duty on imports of the materials needed to build solar plants. The Cambodian government plans to supply electricity throughout the entire country by 2020 by developing renewable energy resources, specifically looking at solar, hydro and biomass-fueled power.

Energy demand in Cambodia is expected to grow 3.7 percent per year from 2005 to 2030 as manufacturing industries are established and more households connect to the electricity grid. Just 20 percent of households are currently connected to the national grid, which is fragmented into isolated power systems centered on provincial towns and cities."

"The government supported by aid agencies is setting up schools in India for child laborers to make them aware of their rights to break a rife but outlawed custom -- child marriage. Girls have become bolder by encouraging each other and getting media publicity for their refusal. Impoverished families often use early marriage to get rid of the financial burden of a daughter, and the law can be slow to react.

Though the numbers are falling, India's latest nationwide health survey said nearly half of women aged 20-24 years were married before they turned 18 and more than a fifth wed before they turned 16. Some 3 percent married before they turned 13. Parents sometimes use force to make their girls marry, and early motherhood can also prove fatal."

"Cutting medical bills to make healthcare affordable for ordinary people in PRC is the aim of the current reform of healthcare system. The national basic medicine system that was initiated in August this year was welcomed as a big step forward in cutting rising healthcare costs. Yet, the announcement by several central government departments that prices for services such as medical examinations or surgery will be raised has sent cold shivers down the spines of many people.

It is understandable that policy-makers hope to enthuse doctors by raising the prices for service they provide. If implemented in a reasonable manner, such a policy will encourage doctors to improve their services and upgrade their technological skills, which will ultimately benefit patients."

"The central bank will focus on driving domestic demand until the global economy recovers, said a senior Bangladesh Bank (BB) official. The revised monetary policy statement took a stance to extend credit to agriculture, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), the rural economy, housing, shipbuilding and rural energy.

However, the country is facing a sharp decline both in global and domestic demand despite the BB's expansionary monetary policy. Banks are overflowed with cash and finding no avenues to invest in, mainly due to the energy crisis. Private sector credit growth went down to below 14 percent in September, the lowest in the last two years."

"Coal and palm oil exporters' profit margins may narrow should the rupiah rise another 4 percent to 9,000 per dollar, and the costs of fuel and rice keep climbing, industry groups said. Analysts predict more gains in the currency, Asia's best performer this year, to 9,000 or stronger against the dollar by the end of 2010.

The country's exports, which account for 24 percent of gross domestic product, fell 19.9 percent in September from a year earlier after dropping 15.4 percent the previous month, government data showed on Nov. 2. Overseas investors poured funds into domestic stocks and bonds this year to benefit from the fastest growth in Southeast Asia, driven by domestic consumption. Coal producers' earnings are also being hit by increased fuel prices, which account for 30 percent of costs."

"The Philippines has further lowered expectations on farm production, with near-flat growth seen, as the crop sector reels from the effects of devastating storms. Growth in the country's agricultural output will likely be at the lower end of the 0.5 percent to 1.5 percent target range of the government. Crops such as rice and corn make up about 50 percent of the country's total agricultural production.

With crop production pummeled by storms, the farm sector will have to depend on fisheries and high-value commercial crops such as vegetables for growth. Harvests from replanted areas will likely come in early 2010, boosting first-quarter production."

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