"India will soon be building 20 kilometers of roads a day in a bid to replace the decrepit highways that carry nearly three quarters of freight and passenger traffic. India's target is 7,000 kilometers a year to create an efficient network of highways that can complement India's economic growth, which is being threatened by its crumbling infrastructure.

India has a network of 3.4 million kilometers of roads, the second largest in the world, but only two percent of those are national highways that carry 40 percent of total traffic. Still, Indian roads carry 70 percent of the country's freight and 85 percent of passenger traffic. The average speed on highways is about 50 km/h, a major impediment for businesses and factories awaiting deliveries."

"The greater number of the world's people are still concentrated in villages or rural areas. But unlike any other time in history, a massive migration of people from rural to urban areas occurred worldwide during the last century. All reliable projections suggest that this migration will become stronger in the years ahead and eventually the greater part of mankind will be living in cities.

Urbanization should not be perceived as a fearful development with growing slums, widening circles of urban poverty and worsening environmental and economic problems. The imperative is to start taking immediate short and long term measures. More than 50 percent of Bangladesh's population could be living in urban areas by the year 2025 and Dhaka could grow to become the world's fourth populous city by the year 2015."

"Many economists are beginning to feel concerned about the possibility of Vietnam getting stuck in the so-called 'middle-income trap' -- growing rapidly from low- to middle-income status but then floundering and seeing growth slow down considerably. The middle-income trap, caused by the failure to improve human skills and technology and create internal value, prevents countries jumping from stage two to stage three.

Growth for middle-income countries must be based on mastering new technologies, producing more sophisticated goods, breaking into new markets and improving workers' skills. Development policies must help Vietnam create domestic value and effectively take part in the global value chain by establishing competitive industrial human resources and support industries and services and strengthening logistics."

"Singapore's economy shrank 6.8 percent in the fourth quarter to December from the previous three months, but the slowdown was less than expected for the whole year, the trade ministry said Monday. The decline in GDP was attributed to weakness in the key manufacturing sector, which shrank 38.4 percent.

The slide in manufacturing, a dramatic reverse from the 29.6 percent growth of the third quarter, was mainly due to a fall in output from pharmaceuticals and transport engineering. The government declared the recession over in November, but cautioned that the strength of its recovery would depend on the pace of rebound in Singapore's major trading partners."

"Indonesia suffered a relatively mild impact from the global financial crisis and was more resilient compared to some of its neighbors because of its sustainable household spending. But did government fiscal and monetary policies do much to combat the effect of the global downturn in Indonesia?

More than half the funds of the $7.9 billion stimulus package went to tax incentives for businesses and consumers, and about 16 percent for infrastructure projects. But timing was an issue, with less than 25 percent of the funds disbursed through the end of September, with the vast majority of the infrastructure spending coming afterward."

"Vietnam started a series of super projects in 2009 that have directly contributed to the country's economic recovery. The number of super road works last year reached six, including four expressways, one bridge and one deepwater seaport.

But there are concerns about a shortage of construction space, workers, materials and administration capacity when the road projects reach the completion phase. The risk of human resource shortage is a difficult problem for investors."

"Bangladesh's central bank initiated some reform programs last year for modernizing the banking sector, but some government steps sent bad signals to the overall governance in the sector. During the caretaker government regime, an ordinance was passed amending the banking companies act to improve governance in the banking sector. But the present government has yet to transform the ordinance into law.

The government has already given autonomy to the state banks, and more autonomy was given to the Bangladesh Bank. A separate banking division was created splitting the finance division. But many fear that interference in the banking sector would increase through the banking division. In line with international agreement, Bangladesh has to take its banking sector to an international standard by 2011."

"Climate change, natural disasters, plant epidemics and liberalization under the Asian Free Trade Agreement could all affect Thailand's farm output and trading competency. Thailand is the world's 13th-largest food supplier, with its exports accounting for 2.4 percent of the value of the world's food trade. However, Thailand's export growth in farm and other food products has shown only slight growth, a smaller percentage than its export rivals have enjoyed.

Vietnam's higher production per yield results from 82 percent of its rice being irrigated. In Thailand, some crops, such as rice, cassava and maize, are often not compatible with the local environment. Traders have called for the government to introduce zoning for crops, in order to ensure appropriate farming methods that fit local environmental conditions."

"Bouncing off an emerging global recovery, Vietnam expects positive economic changes in 2010, specifically export and foreign direct investment (FDI) growth. Policy makers, however, are still weary of the many challenges the developing country faces, not the least of which is the threat of recurring inflation.

Inflation is likely to rise to double digits from around 7 percent in 2009, as the recent sharp increase in credit growth and higher commodity prices feed domestic prices. A further tightening of the deficit may be needed if external pressures continue to intensify. The country has recently approved a 2010 budget plan to reduce the overall fiscal deficit by about 2 percentage points of GDP to around 6.5 percent of GDP."

"As in the Asian financial crisis of 1997/1998, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have weathered the current global financial crisis better than large enterprises. This is because SMEs have not been as dependent on formal and export markets. Hence, SMEs have played an important role as a buffer for the critical situation by creating employment and generating income for those belonging to the lower socio-economic class.

Unfortunately, despite playing a vital role in the Indonesian economy, SMEs also suffered from a number of problems. One critical problem that SMEs face is their limited access to the banking sector as a source of capital. This limited access has adversely affected the ability of SMEs to grow and develop. The lack of understanding among banks about the business characteristics of SMEs is a major reason why banks remain reluctant to lend to them."

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