This issue discusses the Asian Development Bank’s revamp of its political risk guarantee policy, making it more userfriendly and transparent. The scope of coverage for lenders to private sector projects has also been expanded and made more explicit. Areas of political risk coverage now include expropriation, currency inconvertibility and/or nontransfer, political violence, and breach of contract. Other ...

Environmental degradation in the Asia and Pacific region is pervasive, accelerating, and unabated, putting at risk people’s health and livelihood and hampering the economic growth needed to reduce the level of poverty in the region. This is the scenario depicted by the Asian Environment Outlook 2001 released in June by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Other topics tackled in this issue includes ...

This issue discusses mobilization of resources from an Asian perspective, and as ADB President Tadao Chino noted, “Asia faces daunting development challenges at the same time official development assistance is becoming increasingly scarce.” Other topics include the President’s visit to Spain, France, and Germany, as well as Spain’s effort to fight poverty in Asia, among others. This quarterly ...

On 14 March, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) launched its new Long-Term Strategic Framework (LTSF) to help the developing nations of Asia and the Pacific eradicate extreme poverty by 2015. The LTSF is embodied in a new document, “Moving the Poverty Reduction Agenda Forward in Asia and the Pacific,” that spells out ADB’s plans and priorities. Other topics in this issue includes institutional change ...

As Asia’s recovery consolidates, its quality is improving, leaving affected countries in a stronger position to absorb shocks, according to the October issue of the Asia Recovery Report released by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The resilience of Asian economies is the main topic for this issue. Other articles include discussions on the “digital divide,” small businesses on the People’s Republic ...