"Administrative red tape and wrangling between the Finance Ministry and the State Enterprises Ministry may delay Indonesia's plan to raise funds for vital infrastructure development. If this does indeed come to pass, it would be a major setback for the nation and the economy. It was announced that the government had canceled plans to create an SOE investment fund that would have helped finance infrastructure projects.

Plans for the fund, which would have used government minority stakes in partially-privatized SOEs to raise money, were apparently illegal. The plan was to have a new state-owned investment company use these shares, valued at Rp 13 trillion ($1.44 billion), as collateral for loans to finance the fund. The ministry had expected the plan to generate up to Rp 40 trillion to help fund much-needed infrastructure development in the country."

"India's GDP in the first quarter has recorded 8.8 percent growth on a sizzling performance by manufacturing and other sectors. Before New Delhi begins its celebrations, however, it might want to look at the figures a little more closely. Industry's high growth of around 11 percent is due entirely to manufacturing since mining as well as electricity, gas and water -- both critical segments of the core sector -- simply stagnated, the first at around 8 percent and the second at 6 percent.

What this kind of performance holds for the rest of the economy coping with a weak infrastructure needs no elaboration; but it also says a lot about policymakers' attempts to galvanize funds for the sector's expansion: clearly, no progress on that front. In manufacturing too, the growth might be an overblown claim, considering the very low base of last year; in other words, for a better sense of the expansion one may have to wait another two quarters before a more meaningful year-on-year comparison can be made."

"The Philippines is not ready to negotiate bilateral free-trade agreements (FTAs) with prospective trading partners, such as the United States and Europe. Trade Undersecretary Adrian Cristobal Jr. said officials concerned should go back to the drawing board and do extensive consultations with the private sector, civic groups, members of academe and Congress on what the Philippines really needs and what it can afford to bargain.

He also told reporters that before seeking new FTAs, the government must conduct extensive education and information campaigns on how the business sector can use existing bilateral and regional trade agreements. For instance, Cristobal said, Filipino exporters have not really taken advantage of the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement to increase their presence in the Japanese market."

"Farmers may reap as little as half of their normal harvests this year due to late monsoon rains in Nepal, a country constantly battling malnutrition and food insecurity, the World Food Programme (WFP) warns. Production losses above 50 percent were reported in seven out of 24 mid- and far-western districts, attributable to several local disasters, including drought, heavy snowfall and a hailstorm.

Now, an unpredictable monsoon season -- normally June to August -- has caused additional concern. The mid-western Karnali region is considered the poorest, least developed and most food insecure of this Himalayan nation. With almost no irrigation and a mostly dirt track 'highway' often blocked by landslides during the monsoon season, Karnali's rain-fed production typically gives the local population enough sustenance for at most six months of the year."

"The impoverished population in rural areas of PRC's ethnic autonomous areas fell to around 19.55 million in 2009, down 1.48 million from a year earlier, the State Ethnic Affairs Commission said. Impoverished people accounted for about 16.4 percent of the rural population in ethnic autonomous areas.

The commission said poverty relief in areas inhabited by ethnic minority groups is key for the national poverty alleviation program. China invested 16.54 billion yuan (around $2.43 billion) for poverty-relief efforts in ethnic autonomous areas last year. The commission suggested the central government have special policies for ethnic autonomous areas when drafting the country's new poverty-relief program."

"Thailand was capable of enhancing its competitiveness through innovation, provided the R&D budget were to be increased by both the public and private sectors, an expert has said. Against the goal of upping the R&D budget to 0.5 percent of gross domestic product, actual spending is now only 0.2 percent -- against more than 1 percent in many other countries.

The private sector may need to take the lead in terms of R&D, and the government could help via support from state units, another expert said. Tax incentives, whereby private companies can deduct up to two times their R&D expenses from taxable income, could be raised, and more government resources should be made available to ensure more rapid screening and hence faster development."

"Kazakhstan plans to double its crude oil export duty to $40 per ton from Jan. 1, government sources said, less than six months after reinstating the tax when prices recovered from lows in the financial crisis. Kazakhstan's decision to bring back a tax on almost all crude oil exports in July effectively revised the terms of its long-standing agreements with two major foreign-led oil groups.

At $20 per ton, the current duty is a tenth of the level applied before the tax was scrapped in January 2009 in a move to help producers ride out low crude prices during the global financial crisis. Analysts have compared Kazakhstan's reintroduction of the duty to efforts by other resource-rich nations to become more assertive with foreign investors at a time of a high oil price cycle."

"Mobile broadband-based services can help farmers save about Rs6 billion ($129 million) over the next five years, according to a report. Getting information quickly on the best prices and cultivation practices, with special focus on areas like plant protection from diseases and weather-related damage, will help farmers take fast decisions.

Lack of information on effective practices is leading to huge losses in the agriculture sector. Between 1991 and 2009, the share of agriculture in India's GDP declined by around 14 percent, whereas that of services rose by over 20 percent. Mobile telephony would be a more convenient means of communication, as penetration of wireline infrastructure remains low in rural India. A vast majority of rural Indians are involved in farming-related activities like animal husbandry, agriculture, fishing and poultry farming."

"Sri Lanka's exports grew 13.7 percent to $3.6 billion in the first half of 2010, and imports expanded 42.1 percent amid an economic recovery, expanding the trade deficit by 108 percent to $2.8 billion, official data shows. In the month of June exports grew 23.4 percent to $697.4 million, with tea exports up 15.4 percent to $120 million amid better prices.

The Central Bank said garment exports to the United States were up 34 percent and to the European Union by 8 percent. Revenues from rubber product exports were up 110 percent to $52 million, led by rubber tires and gloves. The trade account covers a narrow part of the balance of payments. In addition to exports, the money to buy imports comes from remittances sent by expatriate workers, net foreign borrowings by the state and money printed by the central bank and given to the government."

"Digital money and mobile money are now rising significantly. In small urban areas of Asia for example, farmers trade and make payments through credit phones. While currency is confusing in some areas and scarce, phone credit works just like money. Phone credit can be transferred instantly from one phone to the other. Mobile money also lifted off in urban and metropolitan areas.

In many countries in Asia, shops have understood the advantages of mobile money. Certain stores allow customers to pay for products with just their phone. Mobile money can be used for a wide range of services. These do not necessary need to be digital, some are hard goods, such as transportation, parking meters, books, magazines, tickets, and other products. Mobile phone money works in improvised ways in rural areas and works in more organized ways in urban areas."

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