While overall food security has improved remarkably in Asia in the past decades, food insecurity still prevails in many developing countries in the region. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, over 500 million Asians still suffer from hunger. Sound strategies need to be developed and actions undertaken to fight food insecurity in Asia. This report suggests that institutional differences ...

The recently agreed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are expected to guide development through the 2030 time horizon. The 17 SDGs cover many areas, such as poverty, health, sustainable development, and the environment. Given that trade is not an end in itself, there is no specific SDG goal for trade, but it is recognized as an important means of implementation. The objective of this book is to ...

SMEs play a vital role in the Asian economy and comprise about 70% of the workforce and GDP in the region. To enhance productivity and ensure sustainable growth in Asia, it is vital to provide smooth financing to SMEs. Traditionally, commercial banks in Asia have regarded loans to SMEs as too risky relative to high transaction costs. However, new technologies including distributed ledger technology, ...

The services economy is on the rise all around the world, and services now comprise the largest share of economic activity and employment in almost every country. Yet, the services economy remains relatively understudied. This book presents the latest evidence demonstrating how technologies and globalization have transformed the services industry. Services are becoming increasingly tradable under ...

Education is a key driver for sustainable development (UNESCO 2018). The entire global community has been determined to ensure that all human beings can fulfill their potential in dignity and equality; to protect the planet so that it can support the needs of the present and future generations; to ensure that all human beings can enjoy prosperous and fulfilling lives; to foster peaceful, just, and ...

Asia’s economic success over the past four decades has been built on a strategy of export promotion coupled with trade opening. Poverty rates throughout the region have fallen dramatically, especially in countries that have succeeded in integrating into regional or global value chains. However, this economic success has been accompanied by structural changes, such as the need for workers to change ...

Infrastructure investment is a key factor for economic development and job creation. Water supply, electricity, road, railways, and airports, among others, will bring in business to the Central Asia and Caucasus region and enhance the welfare of the people. Quality infrastructure refers not only to fiscal quality but also to the new business activities and accompanying employment created along each ...

Energy security, as an interdisciplinary field, focuses on various factors (e.g., energy, natural resources, environmental, economic, social, political/geopolitical, military/security, and technological) and issues (e.g., economic, energy and foreign policies, crises and conflicts, climate change, and sustainable development/energy) affecting countries’ efforts to secure their energy requirements ...

Achieving food security is of utter importance in any nation. However, food insecurity still exists in many developing countries, with Asia home to almost 65% of the world’s undernourished. This calls for urgent action. Studies that examine differences in food security performance among Asian countries are sparse. This book fills this gap by providing cross-country comparative perspectives on food ...

The People’s Republic of China (PRC) has been growing at an unprecedented rate since economic reforms were initiated in 1978, achieving an average annual real GDP growth rate of 9.7% over the entire period through 2015. As a consequence, the PRC has achieved a remarkably successful transition from one of the poorest countries to upper middle-income status in just over one generation. However, there ...