"A new regulation requiring lenders in Viet Nam to maintain higher capital adequacy ratios has put a strain on banks. The Vietnam Bank Association said many commercial banks will not be able to increase their minimum capital adequacy ratios from 8 to 9 percent as ordered by the central bank. According to the association, banks need more time to raise capital in order to meet the new ratio requirement.

The October 1 deadline was announced by the State Bank of Vietnam at the end of May in an attempt to ensure the financial security of the nation's institutions. The higher the capital adequacy ratio of a lender, the better equipped it is in dealing with risk. Some commercial banks complained that their major shareholders planned to divest, making it even more difficult to raise capital this year."

"Judging by the numbers put out by the Reserve Bank of India on corporate investments in 2009-10, one could be forgiven for thinking that the investment cycle is revving up, especially in infrastructure. A little over half the projects planned for 2009-10 were in infrastructure, which is a tad higher than the previous year's investments at 45 percent. Any numerical increase in investments at first glance appears good news.

But take a closer look at the numbers and the scenario gets foggy. The largest investments planned or made in the year are in power and telecom; in the former, they have increased just two percentage points to 30 percent of the total over 2008-09. But in telecom, it has more than doubled from last year's 10 percent. Roads, storage and water management had just five projects."

"Indonesia has more than 52 million Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) that employed more than 80 million people in 2008. These SMEs are spread into so many types of clusters, namely regional clusters, business clusters or industrial clusters. Indonesian SMEs have contributed well in providing job opportunities and generating income. Therefore, the need to develop or even empower SMEs' capacity is an important goal.

Increasing SMEs' capacities means that SMEs should cooperate and compete with each other in order to increase their competitiveness and capacities. To increase SMEs' capacities several issues need to be addressed including a lack of access to financial services, a low level of entrepreneurial spirit, low-skilled labor, difficulties in marketing their product abroad, and lack of support from research centers/universities."

"Pakistan received more aid pledges on Tuesday after concerns that money is not coming through fast enough to help 20 million people hit by unprecedented floods and stave off a 'second wave of death' from disease. Torrential monsoon rain triggered catastrophic floods which have affected a fifth of the country, wiping out villages, rich farm land, infrastructure and killing an estimated 1,600 people in the nation's worst ever natural disaster.

The United Nations last week launched an immediate appeal for $460 million to cover the next 90 days. Officials now estimate that 35 percent of the funds have been committed. Japan on Tuesday came forward to pledge an additional $10 million in emergency aid and Australia promised an extra $21.6 million."

"Thailand could face a fiscal crisis in two to three years if the government continues its spending spree because revenue won't catch up with expenses, the Budget Bureau has warned. Next year's budget is fixed at Bt2.07 trillion ($65.3 billion). During the annual budget process, government agencies had proposed a whopping Bt6 trillion in expenditures. But the government can only count on tax revenue of Bt1.6 trillion, leaving it Bt400 billion short of the Bt2.07 trillion. The deficit has to be financed by borrowings.

The government has publicly pledged to balance the budget within five years. But given the growing demand for spending from government agencies and government programs, it is very unlikely that will happen anytime soon. Thailand's fiscal position remains in relatively good shape because public debt now stands at around Bt4 trillion against GDP of about Bt9 trillion. The challenge for the government is to rein in debt so that it won't impair the balance sheet of the country going forward."

"Nepal would benefit from a revitalized carpet industry. Its products once made up a third of the Himalayan country's exports and it was the largest supplier of foreign currency. At its peak in 1993-1994, the industry had 3,000 operating carpet firms and employed 1.2 million people, directly and indirectly. By fiscal 2008-2009, Nepal's carpet exports had been halved to 5.3 billion Nepali rupees in value.

Today, only about 600 carpet firms are in operation and the number of those whose work has something to do with the industry has dropped to 100,000. There are two main reasons why exports are no longer doing as well as before: Almost every second person ventured into the sector, thus hindering the quality of output. The other main reason for dwindling exports was the entry of India, which offered far better rates."

"Bhutan faces a shortage of health workers as many doctors and nurses leave for higher studies abroad. There are around two health workers per 2,500 people, whereas in remote areas the ratio is 1:2500. With doctors and nurses away for studies, applications for additional health workers have poured into the health ministry from all 20 districts.

The number of health workers required in all health care centers across the country adds up to more than a hundred, said the health ministry. Every year, the health ministry sees about 12 to 15 health workers, especially doctors and nurses leaving for studies abroad. Shortages get further compounded when the remaining health workers do not get distributed equally across the health facilities."

"Sri Lanka is set to deploy the Global Position System and the Global System for Mobile Communication for effective management of railway services and to improve commuter services. Once this project is implemented, commuters will be able to see where a train is at any given time. The commuter will be able to know instantly whether their train concerned will be on schedule or delayed.

Initially this project would be implemented on a trial basis with the new devices installed on a few trains for a short time. But within five months the new device will be in full operation with 50 units distributed among 80 trains."

"Beijing's 20 million regular residents impose an unbearable weight on the city, which lacks water, land, and the resources needed for the subsistence of a modern metropolis. Instead of imposing an administrative threshold to keep the unwanted population away, experts are now in favor of encouraging 'high-end' industries and discouraging 'low-end' ones.

This may, to some extent, help 'refine' the structure of the local population. But it is unlikely to be a cure for overpopulation. That will not change unless the distribution of public resources does. The ultimate solution to Beijing's population headache lies in changing the way national wealth is distributed. National policies should work to mitigate regional inequities, instead of worsening them."

"The Indonesian government has been talking about expanding Tanjung Priok port for several years now so the business community can be forgiven for being somewhat skeptical of the latest plan to build four new terminals at a cost of Rp 22 trillion ($2.5 billion) over the next five to six years. Located in North Jakarta, Tanjung Priok is Indonesia's largest and most strategic port, handling 50 million tons of cargo a year.

The new plan calls for a phased expansion of the port so that when completed, it will have the capacity to handle 10 million 20-foot equivalent units per year, up from four million currently. This will be a significant expansion and it will go a long way toward easing container congestion at the port as well as helping to keep pace with economic growth. This is vital if Jakarta is to be seen as a major port of call for international shipping companies and for Indonesia to be perceived as a major economic player."

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