Asian development outlook 2024
Developing economies in Asia and the Pacific are forecast to expand by 4.9% on average this year as the region continues its resilient growth amid robust domestic demand, improving semiconductor exports,
Developing economies in Asia and the Pacific are forecast to expand by 4.9% on average this year as the region continues its resilient growth amid robust domestic demand, improving semiconductor exports,
Worldwide wind energy Total installed capacity 2007
Sustaining Growth and Sharing Prosperity: United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, Poverty and Development Division, United Nations Building, Rajadam-nern Nok Avenue, Bangkok 10200, Thailand.
Leaders across Asia are starting to give in on the prickly issue of fuel subsidies, hiking prices in the face of $130 a barrel oil, but careful calibration of the steps may allow them to get away with it. Indonesia jacked up fuel prices by an average of 28.7 percent from Saturday, Sri Lanka followed with its own increase on Sunday and Bangladesh said it planned an increase soon. India is also considering such a move. The odd man out is China, which has strong finances and has said it does not plan to raise prices soon.
Precisely when many in the developed bloc were frantically counting their money at the height of a surreal shock over subprime rate, the globalising world was jolted by a potential crisis of subsistence that would hit the poor and other vulnerable sections very hard. Is there a link, therefore, between the slippery subprime banking rate and the soaring prices of rice and other staples?
The focus in Asia is now on the earthquake that killed untold thousands in China this week. It's worth pausing for a moment to consider how that country's biggest quake in 58 years offers a reason for optimism. The contrast between China's impressive relief efforts and Myanmar's shameful failure to allow the rapid delivery of international aid after this month's cyclone is as huge as it is telling. And China's response differs markedly from how it dealt with an earthquake that killed 250,000 people in 1976 in the northeastern city of Tangshan.
East and Southeast Asia are probably the breeding grounds for influenza viruses. A study has shown that the virus spreads through densely-packed cities in the region before hitching a ride on human
until now, it was believed that methane, from cattle dung and paddy cultivation, was the second biggest contributor to global warming after carbon dioxide. A recent review says soot is the second
According to an Assocham study, the lethal fake drugs market is growing at 25% annually.
Rice production in Asia, Africa and Latin America is forecast to reach a new record level in 2008, but world rice prices could remain high in the short term, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said Monday. However the destruction of Myanmar's food resources by a deadly cyclone could decrease national rice production and impair access to food, according to first FAO estimates. "World paddy production 2008 could grow by about 2.3 percent, reaching a new record level of 666 million tonnes, according to our preliminary forecasts," said FAO rice expert Concepcion Calpe.
In view of the emergence of the avian influenza epidemic in South East Asia region, the National Institute of Virology (NIV) will host a meeting on strengthening influenza diagnosis and networking in South East Asia in Pune from May 13. Dr A C Mishra, Director, National Institute of Virology said that the meeting was being conducted by the World Health Organisation-SEARO to improve diagnostic capacity of laboratories in the South East Asia region. National Influenza Centers are the cornerstone of global influenza surveillance.