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T O P H E A D L I N E S 8 July 2008

1. ASIA: Effect of global inflation on microfinance
2. LAO PDR: Bringing light to remote villages
3. VIET NAM: Opportunities for foreign banks
4. ASIA: Link global warming to food, energy security
5. BANGLADESH: Rural students struggle against inequality
6. MYANMAR: Children, teachers find it hard to concentrate
7. INDONESIA: Malnutrition linked to less breast feeding
8. PHILIPPINES: Residents play reforestation role
9. INDIA: Gas shortage fears reach crisis point
10. VIET NAM: Bumper crop will not affect rice price

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I N D E P T H

1. ASIA OP/ED: Effect of global inflation on microfinance

Source: Jakarta Post

"Economic growth in Indonesia is being threatened by inflation. In the developing world, a larger portion of household expenditures tends to go to the most inflationary items -- food and fuel. This should be a wake-up call for anyone counting on investments abroad, including the microfinance sector that has been largely viewed as having high resilience toward external shocks.

The threat of people falling again into poverty and stagnant loan portfolio expansion for microfinanciers should be something to watch in the coming months. Surprisingly, the environment has been made even worse as the Indonesian government is now acting as if it is another big microfinancier, distributing cash to the poor with no clear mechanism on how to measure the effectiveness of such a policy."

Full article: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2008/07/07/crippling-effect-global-inflation-microfinance.html

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2. LAO PDR: Bringing light to remote villages

Source: IRIN

"Only 48 percent of the people living in Lao PDR are connected to the electrical grid, mainly in towns and cities. For the rest of the country, access is limited because of problems of infrastructure and affordability. The government says it is committed to electrifying 90 percent of the country by 2020 but it will be a near impossible challenge given that most rural communities are costly to reach with electrical lines.

Solar-powered systems are a logical alternative, but start-up costs are prohibitive. However, one company has had some success helping villagers access such electrical supply by renting out solar-based systems. These lanterns are available to rent at a price that is competitive with polluting kerosene lamps. After 15 hours' use, the lamps are recharged, for a small fee, from the village's central solar-power collection facility. All fees go towards maintaining the central solar recharging station."

Full article: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79075

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3. VIET NAM: Opportunities for foreign banks

Source: Vietnam Net

"While local banks in Viet Nam are continuing to deal with a lot of difficulties caused by tightened monetary policies, foreign banks are making big leaps to conquer the retail banking market. While domestic banks have been bogged down in real estate and securities loans since 2007, foreign banks have avoided the problems.

By the end of June 2008, foreign bank branches and joint venture banks had gained growth rates of 33% for assets and 50% for liabilities compared to the end of 2007. In the past, foreign-invested banks focused on providing services to foreign direct investors. However, there has been an obvious change in the banks' operations as they are now eyeing the domestic retail market."

Full article: http://english.vietnamnet.vn/biz/2008/07/792431/

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4. ASIA: Link global warming to food, energy security

Source: Reuters

"Climate change is high on the agenda of the annual G8 summit that started in Japan on Monday with hopes of a deal on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. But a global deal on capping emission levels has not been possible because rich nations say India and China must commit to cut their emissions first, a demand the two countries reject, saying they must burn fossil fuels to keep their economies growing and lift millions out of poverty.

As a developing nation, India is not yet required to curb emissions under the Kyoto Protocol, despite mounting pressure from environmental groups and industrialized nations. India's new national climate change plan focuses on renewable energy for sustainable development, but coal remains the backbone of India's power sector -- accounting for about 60 percent of generation."

Full article: http://in.reuters.com/article/topNews/idINIndia-34406520080707

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5. BANGLADESH: Rural students struggle against inequality

Source: Daily Star

"The prevalent examination system and commercialization of education in Bangladesh are gradually elbowing out rural students from getting a higher education, thereby further widening the disparity between the rural and urban populations. The doors of corporate and private houses and government bodies are being shut to rural students.

Having a mere degree or good results does not ensure a job nowadays. Everybody wants a readymade person who can work soon after joining the company. But where are the facilities for rural students to undergo such training? The cornering of the rural population will in no way yield benefit for the nation."

Full article: http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=44491

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6. MYANMAR: Children, teachers find it hard to concentrate

Source: IRIN

"Two months after Cyclone Nargis struck, leaving more than 138,000 dead or missing, teachers are seeing first-hand the problems children face in returning to their studies. Many students show signs of difficulty concentrating on their lessons. As well as helping children get back to some sort of normality, being in school protects children from further harm that may follow a natural disaster.

But it is not just the children who are suffering. Teachers also complain of a lack of energy or the inability to concentrate on their work. In the southern Ayeyarwady delta, just over 2,000 or 43 percent of all public school buildings were totally or partially damaged."

Full article: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79082

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7. INDONESIA: Malnutrition linked to less breast feeding

Source: Jakarta Post

"A decline in the breast-feeding rate in Indonesia is one of the primary causes of the rise in childhood malnutrition in the country, a UN official says. On average, Indonesian children are breast-fed exclusively for less than two months. The UN body has found one in every four children in the country suffers from malnutrition. The primary cause of malnutrition was poor infant feeding practices.

Malnourished children are more prone to infectious diseases such as diarrhea and upper respiratory infections. Barriers to breast-feeding in Indonesia include low awareness of the benefits due to inadequate counseling and support. For working mothers, a lack of supporting facilities such as designated space in the workplace for breast-feeding and adequate maternity leave to support six months of exclusive breast-feeding also hinders the program."

Full article: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2008/07/07/malnutrition-ri-linked-decline-breastfeeding.html

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8. PHILIPPINES: Residents play reforestation role

Source: Daily Yomiuri

"A large number of trees were felled in the Philippines in the 1970s and '80s to export mahogany wood to Japan. During that period, 200,000 hectares of forest -- the same size as that of greater Tokyo -- disappeared every year. The country's forest area, which accounted for about half of all the land 50 years ago, decreased to 24 percent of the total in 2003. The percentage of virgin forests in 2003 fell to 8 percent.

Many government- and private sector-led reforestation projects failed. There were many cases of arson across the region committed by locals who were displaced from their homes by the reforestation projects. But now in Penablanca, local residents decide which tree species are planted and maintain the forests themselves. Newly planted trees are checked every three months. The residents also formed guard units to monitor the reforested area."

Full article: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/summit/20080707TDY01302.htm

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9. INDIA: Gas shortage fears reach crisis point

Source: Business Standard

"The unavailability of gas in the international market is causing a new energy crisis in India that could worsen power supplies and impact a wide range of industries. Indian companies have been importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) because domestic demand exceeds supply. A third of these imports are secured in the spot market and the balance through multi-year term contracts.

This sourcing pattern is a problem because there is a huge shortage of spot LNG cargoes in the world market. Spot LNG prices have increased in relation to oil prices but the supply constraint is a first. Liquefied gas is easier to transport but is more expensive since the buyer has to pay liquefaction and regassification costs."

Full article: http://business-standard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=10&autono=328031

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10. VIET NAM: Bumper crop will not affect rice price

Source: Vietnam Net

"Viet Nam is harvesting a bumper winter-spring rice crop in the north, and summer-autumn crop in the south. However, experts believe that the bountiful crops will not make prices go down considerably. As supply has increased, domestic and export rice prices have been decreasing a little since hitting a record high in early 2008.

In the global market, the export price has been decreasing thanks to profuse supplies from big rice export countries like Viet Nam and Thailand. According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, despite the profuse supply, the rice price will still increase slightly due to higher rice production costs and steadily high export prices."

Full article: http://english.vietnamnet.vn/biz/2008/07/792429/

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D E V B l o g s R O U N D U P

A newspaper has used an industrial hand-held air monitor to measure the number of particles in the atmosphere in PRC, which include car emissions and coal dust from factories. The average reading at the main Olympic stadium was 780,000 particles per liter of air. Even with a margin of error, this is more than five times the amount deemed safe by the World Health Organization.

Full article: http://www.allroadsleadtochina.com/index.php/2008/07/06/beijing-smog-5-times-who-safety-limits-more-shutdowns-are-certain/

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