"After years of being known for inefficiency, Indonesia is emerging from the global financial crisis with a surprising new reputation -- economic golden child. The country's economy, the largest in Southeast Asia, grew at an annual rate of 6.2 percent in the second quarter of this year, data shows. That is an acceleration from 2009, when gross domestic product expanded 4.5 percent.

The stock market hit a record high last week and has been among the best-performing equities markets in Asia this year, rising more than 20 percent since Jan. 1. The rupiah has appreciated nearly 5 percent this year against the dollar, among the strongest showings in Asia besides that of the yen. Foreign direct investment, which was held in check for years after the 1997 economic crisis in Asia, is also returning. The country had $3.7 billion in foreign direct investment in the second quarter of this year, a 51 percent rise from a year earlier."

"The importance of poverty reduction and improving the living standards of people has been emphasized in almost all the plans in Nepal directly or indirectly. Nepal started planned development efforts in 1956. However, poverty reduction as an explicit goal of planning was only made in the mid-1980s. The first elected government of Nepal after the restoration of multi-party democracy in 1990 formulated the Eighth Plan (1992-97) in which poverty alleviation, regional balance and sustainable development were stated as the national goals.

The Ninth Plan was formulated with poverty reduction as its sole objective. It introduced long-term targets for poverty reduction. The aim was to bring down the incidence of poverty from 42 percent to 32 percent by 2002 by accelerating the rate of GDP growth to 6 percent per annum."

"Economic freedom is an essential element for the overall socio-economic development of society and it brings about radical changes regarding poverty alleviation. Countries having high scores in the Economic Freedom Index (EFI) had better ratings in the Human Development Index (HDI), poverty alleviation, job creation, export growth, gross domestic product, and investment, and hence contributed to the overall growth of society.

Only one ASEAN country (Singapore) had more exports ($267 billion) as compared with all eight nations of the South Asian Trade bloc with $224 billion. The president of the SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry appealed to the respective governments of South Asia to remodel their economic policies in line with the roadmap provided under SAFTA, and liberalize trade through the elimination of non-tariff barriers, which were hampering the process of economic integration of South Asia."

"Should India begin to unshackle the poor from the inefficient, decades-old government food distribution system and try something radical, like simply giving out food coupons, or cash? The rethinking is being prodded by a potentially sweeping proposal that has divided the Congress Party -- creating a constitutional right to food and expanding the existing entitlement so that every Indian family would qualify for a monthly 77-pound bag of grain, sugar and kerosene.

Many economists agree that the poor need better tools to receive their benefits but believe existing delivering system needs to be dismantled, not expanded; they argue that handing out vouchers equivalent to the bag of grain would liberate the poor from an unwieldy government apparatus and let them buy what they please, where they please."

"Although China's overall GDP is high, its per-capita GDP lags far behind the west. China's per-capita GDP is around $3,800, less than one tenth that of Japan or the U.S., and less than one sixth that of France and the UK. Even among developing countries, China occupies only a mid-to-low-ranking position. Since 2003, China's economic growth has relied on two pillars: exports and real estate. While the former brought China some benefits in terms of modernization, the latter has caused many serious problems.

The growth in the real estate market is based on the mismanagement of land resources and property speculation. If China's growth continues to depend on these sectors, the country's economic development will be severely distorted. Fortunately, the government is well aware of the situation, and has introduced a series of measures to mitigate financial risks. China's economy suffers from the imbalance between urban and rural economic development. The reforms of the past three decades achieved great success, but cities and villages are steadily growing apart."

"As Asia rebounds from the global economic crisis, and resumes rapid economic growth, a big question will be whether Asia will lead the world in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Growth has helped reduce poverty but rising inequality in almost every country in Asia has enhanced social tensions and reduced the potential impact of growth on poverty reduction.

Had inequality remained the same as in 1990, another 300 million people could have climbed out of poverty for the same level of growth. Incomes at the top of the distribution chain have grown faster than those in the bottom. Greater regional integration is vital to ensure that the benefits of rapid growth in the region benefit all. Free trade agreements are stitching together, slowly but gradually, a common market but pan Asian infrastructure still lags behind and is vital to ensure that prosperity spreads across Asia."

"The government in PRC has ordered 2,087 steel and cement mills and other factories with poor energy efficiency to close as it struggles to cut waste and improve the country's battered environment. The 'backward' facilities produce steel, coke, aluminum, paper and other materials in areas throughout China and must close by late September.

Authorities said last week that a five-year plan to improve energy efficiency suffered a setback this year as China's economic rebound and a construction boom boosted demand for steel, cement and other energy-intensive products. The government said in March it had cut energy intensity 14.4 percent by the end of 2009 but it said last week that energy intensity crept up 0.09 percent in the first half of this year."

"Indo-Bangladesh relations have been put on a new, but potentially stronger footing, with the inking of a $1 billion loan agreement between New Delhi and Dhaka. The loan will be spent to implement 14 specific development projects designed to provide both a quantum and qualitative leap to road, railway and navigational connectivity between India and Bangladesh with transit from Bangladesh to Nepal and Bhutan and vice-versa.

It is not the amount of the loan that is so important as the definitive stimulus being provided to a massive undertaking that both sides are obliged to fulfill so that the dividend that Bangladesh is looking for in terms of infrastructure development, removal of trade gaps, service charge revenues and wider regional connectivity can be attained."

"In order to improve the lives of the Afghan people and encourage economic development, the United States agreed to cancel 100 percent of Afghanistan's debt to the United States, totaling $108 million. The decision to eliminate the debt was not arbitrary: the Afghan government first had to meet a number of goals to qualify.

Afghanistan began the Heavily Indebted Poor Country program in 2007. Its good performance within the program's parameters, and recent completion of the program in March of this year, have borne fruit: earlier this year, the IMF, the World bank and the Paris Club, an informal group of financial officials from 19 of the world's biggest economies, canceled over $2.6 billion worth of Afghanistan's debt."

"The three watershed areas in the Srikakulam District of Andhra Pradesh offer an ideal terrain to implement a watershed approach to cope with the present crisis of degrading natural resources and threatened agriculture. The project believes in integrating the locals in every step of the project right from its inception to its execution.

It has adopted a five-point approach incorporating partnership building, community based issue analysis, action plans, implementation and monitoring, evaluation and feedback. During the training sessions the community was encouraged to document local knowledge of plant resources in the region, their propagation and usage. It took them about a year to survey the area and come up with the plant book containing about 100 species."

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