"Five years on from the tsunami that battered Asia's shores, experts fear a new generation of coastal dwellers will be ill-prepared to face another giant wave. While alert systems have now been developed in many countries to forewarn governments of impending danger, getting that message out to seaside communities, and to children in particular, remains a challenge.

India spent $32 million on a tsunami warning system designed to detect all earthquakes above a magnitude of six on the Richter scale in the Indian Ocean, apparently within 20 minutes. Sri Lanka is ready to send SMS warning alerts to mobile phones in the event of a disaster, while Thailand has set up 103 towers equipped with loudspeakers along the coast and has increased its radio reach in the six provinces bordering the Andaman Sea. But educating the population to encourage them to react efficiently and without panic in the event of another tsunami is complicated."

"China's 2 trillion renminbi, or $292.9 billion, investment in a nationwide high-speed passenger-rail network may be too much train, too fast. China accelerated its high-speed-rail development plan last year in the wake of the global financial crisis, saying it would increase the passenger network by a third to 16,000 kilometers by 2020.

The centerpiece of the service is a 1,318-kilometer line with 16 kilometers of tunnels that will cut the trip between Beijing and Shanghai to five hours from 10. Set to open by 2012, the project currently employs 127,000 workers and is the most expensive engineering program in Chinese history, eclipsing the Yangtze River's Three Gorges Dam."

"EU member states have given the European Commission the green light to begin bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations with the different countries in the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). The first country to be impacted by these bilateral agreements is Singapore because, of all the ASEAN members, it is the EU's most important trade partner.

Negotiations are expected to begin in early 2010. Singapore has signed FTAs with various trading partners, including the United States, Japan and Australia."

"The critical lack of protein and micronutrients is evident in the worsening mortality indicators among Afghan women and young people. The country now claims the highest rate of maternal mortality in the world and the second highest mortality rate among children under five years old (now around 25% of children die before their fifth birthdays).

Current food rations distributed by the World Food Program are barely enough to help the population meet the minimum required daily intake of calories, vitamins, and minerals -- even with humanitarian workers' use of nutrient-enhanced foods such as 'Plumpy Nut,' a high calorie peanut-butter made for children. Afghanistan continues to stand in great need of improved access to vaccinations, breast-feeding education for new mothers, and oral-rehydration therapy awareness."

"The World Bank said it had approved its biggest ever loan to Vietnam as it virtually endorsed the nation's impending elevation to middle income status. The $500 million loan was Vietnam's first from the bank's low-interest lending arm, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), which provides credit to mainly middle income nations. Vietnam has set itself a 2010 target of embracing middle-income status.

The newly approved loan is aimed at supporting a program of public investment reforms in Vietnam. The areas to be strengthened under the reform program include environmental screening of publicly funded infrastructure projects as well as strengthening public financial management and regulatory framework for private participation in infrastructure."

"Eleven years after it applied for membership, Samoa is nearing the final stages of becoming a member of the world's premier trade group, the World Trade Organization (WTO). If everything goes according to plan, Samoa could become a member of the WTO before the end of 2010.

While multilateral negotiations are still being carried out on Samoa's trade policy regime, it has already concluded bilateral negotiations with China, New Zealand, Honduras and Australia. One of the major challenges Samoa faced was the lack of capacity to deal with complex WTO issues."

"China's central bank warned Wednesday that the country's economic recovery is still weak despite improving conditions and said changes in its development model are urgently needed. In a quarterly report, the People's Bank of China also said it is studying ways to improve oversight of China's financial industry and guard against excessive risk.

The central bank said it would encourage Chinese banks to lend in a balanced way in 2010 and avoid big credit fluctuations after a surge in credit this year as part of the stimulus. Also Wednesday, the central bank and China's bank and insurance regulators said in a joint statement they will curb potentially damaging overinvestment in industrial assets."

"Vietnam will join the International Tripartite Rubber Council (ITRC) in 2010, which accounts for 80 percent of the world's natural rubber production. The ITRC also groups Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia.

Vietnam produces around 650,000 tons of natural rubber a year placing it in the ranks of world's largest producers. Thailand is the world's largest producer, contributing 2.9 million tons to the world total output."

"Delhi gets more water than Paris, according to a report of the Planning Commission. But in certain parts of Delhi, like the south, and in the slums and unauthorised colonies, shortages are chronic, both due to poor supply and falling levels of ground water. Delhi, which empties the river Yamuna as it enters the city to fulfill its water needs, says it is facing a water shortage of the intensity of a crisis.

Delhi Jal Board, which manages the city's water supply, has plans to rectify shortages of revenue through reforms in metering, besides plans to stop pilferage of water. These include a computerized revenue management system, a tanker system overhaul and a system to meter water at every stage of the flow. All these are expected in the next six months."

"Rural banks in the Philippines are expected to be in the forefront of mergers next year, with incentives offered by the central bank and the state deposit insurer seen facilitating the consolidations. The central bank said there may also be mergers among the Philippines' top lenders, with commercial banks doing so to cut costs and improve efficiency.

Earlier this month, the central bank's Monetary Board approved the release of BSP's share of a P5-billion fund meant to provide incentives for mergers, consolidations and acquisitions in the rural banking industry. The fund, which will be available for two years, may be tapped by investors seeking to buy or take over an ailing rural bank."

"Cambodia experienced a second consecutive month of deflation in November, according to month-on-month consumer price index (CPI) statistics released Wednesday, a sign that demand for goods continues to flag, and that the economy is a long way from recovery, analysts said. Data showed that deflation accelerated as prices fell 0.6 percent last month compared with October, when they dropped 0.3 percent, even if CPI increased on an annualized basis.

Most economists agree that recent deflation will likely be shown to be insignificant, as Cambodia's economy is expected to record GDP growth of more than 4 percent next year, according to the International Monetary Fund. In Phnom Penh's markets, vendors and buyers say they have barely noticed recent price decreases, complaining that overall prices are higher than last year."

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