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September, 2020 Current Topics		Source

	Japan’s Demographic Shifts and Regional Security Challenges Ahead, August 2020. Japan is one of the first major countries in the contemporary world to experience population decline. Today there are about one and a half million fewer Japanese than a decade ago, a decline in population that will dramatically intensify in the coming years; declining roughly eight million in the 2020s and ten million in the 2030s alone. Some, such as Brad Glosserman in Peak Japan: The End of Great Ambitions, argue that Japan’s changing demographics will lead to a more inward-looking Japan in the coming years...	EWC
	Are America’s East Asia Allies Willing and Able to Host U.S. Intermediate-Range Missiles? August 2020. Washington’s withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty in early August 2019 frees it to deploy long-range, ground-launched missiles for the first time since 1988, when the now-defunct treaty entered into force. Russian violations prompted the U.S. to withdraw from the INF Treaty, but China’s unconstrained development of nuclear and conventional missiles played a supporting role in the U.S decision. As the United States and China sink deeper into confrontation and competition, debates over U.S. deployment of missiles in East Asia will become more pressing...	EWC
	Mongolia’s Response to Increasing U.S.-China-Russia Rivalry in Asia, August 2020. In the midst of heightened tensions generated by renewed U.S.-China-Russia rivalry in Asia, the sparsely populated, landlocked state of Mongolia demonstrates creativity and flexibility in crafting its national strategies. But this is an old story for Mongolia. Historically, Mongolia was viewed as a pawn whose fate was determined by the nature of the Sino-Russian relationship. When its Soviet Union protector dissolved at the end of the Cold War, it had to define new national priorities beyond reliance on just one state and one ideology. It embraced a multi-pillared foreign policy called the “Third Neighbor” to balance its relations with border neighbors Russia and China by reaching out to other democracies, including the U.S., Japan, European Community, and South Korea, for political and economic support...	EWC
	Cambodia’s State of Emergency Law and its Social and Political Implications, August 2020. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Cambodia passed a law which will have huge social and political ramifications for the country, its people, and its political development. The country reported its first confirmed COVID-19 case on January 27. Two months later the number of confirmed cases rose to around 100 and then quickly reached 122, and then no new cases were confirmed for five weeks between April 22 and May 20. By the end of May, Cambodia had three active cases but zero reported deaths from COVID-19. However, cases have spiked since then. As of August 4, there were 241 confirmed cases and no deaths from COVID-19. Of those confirmed, 200 patients (66%) have recovered...	EWC
	US-Japanese Strategic Dissonance and Southeast Asian Infrastructure Finance, July 2020. U.S. policy in Asia under the Trump administration has sought to compete with China. This is particularly evident in the realm of development finance policy and energy infrastructure development in Southeast Asia. New initiatives include the BUILD Act, which reconfigured the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) as the Development Finance Corporation (DFC), the AsiaEDGE agenda, and the Blue Dot Network. Multilateral efforts such as the Japan-US Strategic Energy Partnership (JUSEP) and Japan-US Mekong Power Partnership (JUMPP) have continued to promote a discourse of ‘quality infrastructure’ in Southeast Asia in accordance with G20 and OECD principles...	EWC
	The Costs of Covid: Australia’s Economic Prospects in a Wounded World, August 2020. Australia is emerging from the pandemic sooner and at less economic cost than widely expected, but with higher unemployment and elevated debt. As the pandemic recedes, it is evident that global output and demand will recover slowly and unevenly. Major advanced economies have sharply increased government debt and their central banks have driven interest rates to rock bottom while buying big shares of additional government debt. At the same time, the US–China quarrel has become more intense, and Australia’s relationship with China has deteriorated. All these changed circumstances, much amplified and extended from their pre-pandemic appearances, limit Australia’s choices...	Lowy
	The World Trade Organization: An Optimistic Pre-Mortem in Hopes of Resurrection, August 2020. For decades, multilateral trade rules operated to keep government protectionist impulses in check. They provided a foundation of openness for international commerce, as well as a framework for liberalisation and integration. With the trade rules as a guarantor, capital and value chains spread across the globe. The creation of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1995 saw these rules reinforced with a feature that is nigh unheard-of in international law: binding and non-optional dispute settlement. For the first time, an international panel of legal experts would have the final say on the legality of trade measures, whether those implementing them liked it or not. On 10 December 2019, a procedural blockade by the world’s largest economy, the United States, culminated in that 24-year experiment being put on hold, perhaps permanently...	Lowy
	Global Order in the Shadow of the Coronavirus: China, Russia, and the West, August 2020. The coronavirus pandemic has thrown a harsh spotlight on the state of global governance. Faced with the greatest emergency since the Second World War, nations have regressed into narrow self-interest. The concept of a rules-based international order has been stripped of meaning, while liberalism faces its greatest crisis in decades. Western leaders blame today’s global disorder on an increasingly assertive China and disruptive Russia. Yet the principal threat lies closer to home. Western governments have failed to live up to the values underpinning a liberal international order — a failure compounded by inept policymaking and internal divisions. The actions of Donald Trump, in particular, have undermined transatlantic unity, damaged the moral authority of the West, and weakened global governance...	Lowy
	Keeping Indonesia’s Economy Afloat Through the COVID-19 Pandemic, July 2020. Indonesia faces one of the most difficult outlooks in Asia amid the economic pandemic unleashed by COVID-19. The principal economic problem is not the old one of capital flight, but about funding the fiscal response necessary to address a massive once-in-a-lifetime shock. With little on offer from the international system, Indonesia is rightly looking to find its own way, including by having taken the unorthodox step of allowing the central bank to directly finance part of the budget deficit. To enable this, the central bank could establish a clearly defined policy of yield curve stabilisation — buying government bonds in the primary and secondary markets to stabilise bond yields close to ‘normal’ market rates, while providing a readily scalable amount of budget financing...	Lowy
	Emerging from COVID: Policy Responses to the Pandemic, June 2020. Lowy Institute experts provide policy recommendations for Australia to address issues that are critical to the nation's — and the world's — successful emergence from the pandemic. Table of Contents: Changing Australia’s conversation about Chinese economic coercion Shaping the US approach to China and the rules-based international order Maintaining Australia's security as American power recedes Strengthening the WHO by giving it legal teeth Curing the G20's irrelevance Forming a coalition of competent middle powers to lead on global health problems Managing Australia's economic recovery Assisting Indonesia through the economic pandemic Stepping up in Southeast Asia Helping the Pacific recover from COVID Reviving Australia's aid program Revaluing Australia's diplomacy	Lowy
	Biodata and Biotechnology: Opportunity and Challenges for Australia, August 2020. This new ASPI report canvasses the extraordinary recent developments in genome sequencing and genetic engineering, which will transform all biological enterprises, including healthcare, among the most important parts of the global economy. It argues that there is a once-in- generation opportunity for Australia to play a leading role in a major economic and revolution with digital deliverables, capitalising on our high quality biomedical science, agricultural R&D and healthcare systems The report identifies a number of elements for Australia to realize this opportunity. First and foremost, a national strategic and action plan is required for the collection and integration of genomic, clinical and smart sensor data for healthcare, and the development of advanced analytical software and point-of-care reporting systems, which can be exported to the world. This plan needs to be resourced by the Australian government, as a major public good infrastructure project...	ASPI
	Covid-19 Disinformation & Social Media Manipulation, August 2020. A range of actors are manipulating the information environment to exploit the COVID-19 crisis for strategic gain. ASPI’s International Cyber Policy Centre is tracking many of these state and non-state actors online, and will occasionally publish investigative, data-driven reporting that will focus on the use of disinformation, propaganda, extremist narratives and conspiracy theories by these actors. The bulk of ASPI’s data analysis uses our in-house Influence Tracker tool - a machine learning and data analytics capability that draws out insights from multi-language social media datasets. This new tool can ingest data in multiple languages and auto-translate, producing insights on topics, sentiment, shared content, influential accounts, metrics of impact and posting patterns...	ASPI
	Discovering Opportunities in the Pandemic? Four Economic Response Scenarios for Central Asia, July 2020. The COVID-19 crisis represents not only an unprecedented economic disruption but also an opportunity for Central Asia. A specific economic policy response may trigger either game-changing reforms that can facilitate the development of full-fledged market institutions or lead to a protracted crisis that would jeopardize almost 30-year long market economy transition progress. As it is rather unclear where the recovery pendulum will make its final swing, the current situation provides fruitful soil for various assumptions. This paper proposes and examines four scenarios of economic response strategies for the region as a whole, and for Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan in particular, that result in unique development trajectories...	ISDP
	The Landscape of Pricing and Algorithmic Pricing, August 2020. Algorithmic pricing is the practice of setting prices using computer programs. Understanding the foundations of pricing practices is fundamental to an assessment of the nature and potential of algorithmic pricing. Prices can be set in a number of ways and the practice of price setting has been examined from different and sometimes overlapping disciplinary perspectives – economics, marketing and operations research. The three key activities in price setting are data collection, demand analysis and optimization. Computer algorithms are used in these activities but they may not be fully integrated in practice. The organizational adoption of algorithmic pricing may assume different forms depending on the cost-benefit calculus across different components of price-setting activities...	ISEAS
	Enhancing Robustness of Enterprise-Wide Risk Assessment on Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing, August 2020. MAS conducted thematic inspections on enterprise-wide risk assessment on money laundering and terrorism financing (EWRA) in 2020. This paper highlights inspection observations and MAS’ supervisory expectations of effective EWRA frameworks and processes that financial institutions should benchmark themselves against.	MAS
	Latest APEC publications: APEC Economic Study on the Impact of Cruise Tourism: Fostering MSMEs' Growth and Creating Sustainable Communities. April 2020 Government Strategies To Encourage Ethical Business Conduct: A Resource Guide for Economies from the Business Ethics for APEC SMEs Initiative, August 2020 2019 Report on Code of Ethics Implementation by APEC Biopharmaceutical Industry Associations, August 2020 2019 Report on Code of Ethics Implementation by APEC Medical Device Industry Associations, August 2020	APEC
	Latest ADB Publications: ASEAN+3 Bond Market Guide: Inter-Bank Bond Market in the People's Republic of China, August 2020 Asian Development Bank and the United States: Fact Sheet, August 2020 Vegetable Production and Value Chains in Mongolia, August 2020 Tackling the COVID-19 Youth Employment Crisis in Asia and the Pacific, August 2020	ADB
	Latest ADB Working Paper Series: The Rise of Robots and the Fall of Routine Jobs, August 2020 Spatial Dynamics and Driving Forces of Asian Cities, August 2020	ADB
	Latest ADBI Working Paper Series: Effects of Infrastructure Projects on Government Revenue: The Case of Expressway Projects in the Northern Midland and Mountainous Area of Viet Nam, August 2020 Review of Voluntary Agreements on Energy Efficiency: Implications for ASEAN Countries, August 2020 FinTech Development in the People’s Republic of China and Its Macroeconomic Implications, August 2020 Reflections on Fiscal Coordination and Integration in Europe, August 2020 Leveraging the Participation of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Global Value Chains of the Automotive Industry: Insights from Maruti Suzuki India, July 2020 Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Nepal: Examining Constraints on Exporting, July 2020 Fintech and Financial Inclusion: Opportunities and Pitfalls, July 2020 Tourism and SME Development: Performance of Tourism SMEs in Coastal Tourist Destinations in Southern Sri Lanka, July 2020 The Nexus of Safe Asset Shortage, Credit Growth, and Financial Instability, July 2020 Public–Private Partnerships in Georgia and Impact Assessment of Infrastructure, July 2020 Drivers of Blue Economy in Asia and Pacific Island Countries: An Empirical Investigation of Tourism and Fisheries Sectors. July 2020	ADB


August, 2020

	Southeast Asia’s Small Businesses Need Regional Readiness Boost in COVID-19 New Normal, July 2020. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, ASEAN’s micro, small and medium-sized businesses have faced significant impact and are critical to economic recovery. The ASEAN Coordinating Committee on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (ACCMSME) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) recently released a Policy Insight on boosting the resilience of MSMEs which is a critical and commendable effort to support small businesses in the region. The Policy Insight highlights how ASEAN can gain from sharing information and best practices in supporting MSMEs...	EWC
	Tracking COVID-19 in the Age of AI and Tech Wars, July 2020. On June 15, 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak, 11 founding members – Australia, Canada, the European Union, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, Slovenia, the United Kingdom, and the United States – came together to launch the first ever global regulatory regime on artificial intelligence (AI) called the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI), hosted by the OECD as the Secretariat. The contactless environment propelled by the COVID-19 pandemic has clearly broken the ice on a long-awaited conversation. The launch, in the absence of China, came amid brewing tensions across the Atlantic in the digital realm...	EWC
	Planning the Future of Korea's New Southern Policy, July 2020. In November 2017, South Korea declared the New Southern Policy (NSP) centered on the 3P: People, Prosperity, and Peace. President Moon Jae-in has visited all 10 ASEAN Member States (AMS) and India in the two and a half years since his inauguration. It is the first time that the Korean President has visited all 10 AMS and India within his term. Last November, the ASEAN-ROK Special Summit and the 1st Mekong-ROK Summit were successfully completed, presenting a cooperation blueprint with ASEAN for the next 30 years...	EWC
	Korea's New Southern Policy: Diversifying Economic and Strategic Portfolios, July 2020. In recent years, Korea has found itself facing more foreign policy challenges than ever. These challenges include North Korea’s nuclear provocations, US-China geopolitical competition in Asia, and rising protectionism and uncertainty in the world economy. Upon taking office in 2017, President Moon Jae-in chose to meet those challenges with new and bold foreign policy initiatives, including the formulation of the New Southern Policy (NSP) toward the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Incorporating ASEAN into Korea’s foreign policy agenda is not new, having been attempted by preceding administrations as well...	EWC
	A Need to Rethink Peace Cooperation in Korea's New Southern Policy, July 2020. In November 2019, the leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and South Korea gathered in Busan, South Korea to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the ASEAN-South Korea relationship. The summit not only reflected on ASEAN-South Korea cooperation over the past three decades, but also highlighted achievements over the past two years of Korea’s New Southern Policy (NSP) launched in November 2017. The Korean government is now preparing the second stage of the NSP, which will guide its approach to so-called ‘new southern countries,’ ASEAN and India, in the second half of Moon Jae-in’s government...	EWC
	Korea's New Southern Policy: Progress, Problems, and Prospects, July 2020. Korea’s New Southern Policy (NSP) of the Moon Jae-in government is the country’s first diplomatic initiative focused on Southeast Asia and India. Previously, Korea’s Asia initiatives were either Northeast Asia-focused or encompassed all of Asia. The NSP aims to elevate Korea’s ties with Southeast Asia and India to the level of its ties with the United States, China, Russia, and Japan — the four countries that have traditionally been most important to Korea. Despite high levels of economic ties and people-to-people exchanges, Korea’s relations with Southeast Asia and India receive disproportionately less recognition, both within Korea’s foreign policy hierarchy and in the public’s view...	EWC
	China's Western Opportunities, June 2020. As the starting point for the novel coronavirus, China has faced unprecedented global criticism. Now, however, China is also emerging from the pandemic’s first wave to restart its economy before much of the rest of the world. In tandem, these circumstances have led Beijing to pursue an unusually aggressive diplomatic posture, counterpunching its critics and pressing its economic advantages. However, China’s current approach is unlikely to pay quick dividends in much of the developed world, especially in Western Europe or East Asia. Beijing’s approach is better placed to work in the regions on its western horizon, across the vast sweep of continental Eurasia that runs through parts of South and Central Asia, into the Middle East, and up to Europe’s doorstep...	EWC
	The Risks of China’s Ambitions in the South Pacific, July 2020. Over the last two decades China has been steadily building its influence in the South Pacific. Many perceive this expansion to be growing at a rate much faster than what could be considered a natural reflection of China’s growing economic and geopolitical clout. This has left many analysts in the West to ask, what is China’s ambition in the South Pacific, and what risks does this create? In the past three years, China’s footprint in the South Pacific has become so large, and its behavior in other parts of the world so much more assertive, that alarm bells have started to sound in capital cities of the South Pacific’s traditional partners...	Lowy
	China's Deep State: The Communist Party and the Coronavirus, July 2020. The emergence of a new, deadly virus in Wuhan in late December 2019 triggered multiple, cascading crises in China, from a collapse in the economy in early 2020 to a wave of foreign criticism of Beijing’s handling of the outbreak. Equally important, but less examined, has been how the ruling Communist Party managed the emergency — both internally and, once infections began falling in China, overseas — to corral its critics and limit any backlash at home and abroad. Democracies across the world have come under scrutiny over their capacity to enforce lockdowns, protect health systems, and manage their economies through sharp downturns after the virus spread within their borders...	Lowy
	Demanding the Future: Navigating the Pacific's Youth Bulge, July 2020. In the Pacific Islands region, high population growth has generated a corresponding increase in the number of young people: at least half the region's population is aged under 23.[1] Of all the challenges the region faces, this ‘youth bulge’ will be one of the most significant. It will affect employment, health outcomes, and sustainable urbanisation, as well as peace and security. The impact of COVID-19 will only exacerbate the predicament. The associated political and social pressures are likely to be particularly acute in the most populous Melanesian island states of Papua New Guinea (PNG), Solomon Islands, and Fiji...	Lowy
	Clean Pipes: Should ISPs Provide a More Secure Internet? July 2020. One of the largest online challenges facing Australia is to provide effective cybersecurity to the majority of internet users who don’t have the skills or resources to defend themselves. This paper explores the concept of ‘Clean Pipes’, which is the idea that internet service providers (ISPs) could provide security services to their customers to deliver a level of default security. The Australian Government looks to be implementing a version of Clean Pipes: on 30 June 2020 the Prime Minister announced a funding commitment to ‘prevent malicious cyber activity from ever reaching millions of Australians across the country by blocking known malicious websites and computer viruses at speed...	ASPI
	Taiwan-Japan (Unofficial) Relations: In a Sea of Troubles, June 2020. Taiwan (The Republic of China, ROC)* and Japan have had a long and vacillating history of engagement mostly consisting of peaceful periods of cooperation yet beset by the Japanese colonial rule of Taiwan from 1895-1945 as well as the atrocities committed during the Second World War. The Taiwan-Japan relationship is a complex one unequivocally entwined with China (The People’s Republic of China, PRC), a country which has been trying to drive a wedge between them. Overall Taiwan-Japan relations remain positive, although they are both constrained by a reluctance to provoke China, which arguably is the single most important external actor in the bilateral relationship. This paper aims to take a closer look at the history of the bilateral and trilateral relations between the states mentioned and to examine in which way China has, and will continue to, influence relations between Taiwan and Japan...	ISDP
	The Case for Multilateralism: The Korean Peninsula in a Regional Context, June 2020. The Korean Peninsula remains an enduring conflict hotspot and security challenge. Since the end of the Korean War in 1953, efforts to build a sustainable peace have been thwarted amidst a long history of tension, aggression, and broken promises; this despite periods of temporarily improved relations and détente. Conflict resolution impulses have been further hampered by the complexities of geostrategic tensions and power rivalry in the wider Northeast Asian region amidst the enduring absence of any formal regional security structure. With the exception of the ultimately failed Six-Party Talks (2003-09), the main focus of nuclear-related negotiations and agreements have been bilateral in nature, notably the 1994 Agreed Framework and the short-lived so-called 2012 Leap Day Deal between North Korea and the United States. However, breakthroughs have often failed to survive political transitions, geopolitical shifts, and the challenges of implementation...	ISDP
	Trends in Southeast Asia 2020 #11: Renewable Energy: Malaysia’s Climate Change Solution or Placebo?. Malaysia pledged to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 45 per cent by 2030 in relation to its 2005 GDP figure. The sectors listed as the main focus of this effort included: energy, industrial processes, waste, agriculture, land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF). Several initiatives under myriad governments have been launched to reduce Malaysia’s climate change impacts; among those has been the emphasis on renewable energy (RE). Malaysia’s current energy mix relies heavily on coal and natural gas. Long-entrenched subsidies on these energy sources, coupled with greatly depreciating prices make it difficult for new RE producers to enter the market and increase their market share. This is in spite of positive developments in RE infrastructure and reduced RE material costs...	ISEAS
	Trends in Southeast Asia 2020 #10: Why Did BERSATU Leave Pakatan Harapan?. The Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition won Malaysia’s 14th general election on 9 May 2018, the first time a regime change took place in the country. However, it lost its majority in late February 2020, when Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (BERSATU) left the coalition. The four parties in PH had very different ideologies, especially when it comes to issues of race and religion. But despite taking various steps to create a coalition agreement, the more fundamental differences were never reconciled during the coalition’s time in power. PH won GE-14 with a relatively low level of support from the ethnic Malays, who perceived it to be a coalition dominated by the mainly Chinese DAP. Fearmongering about how PH and the DAP were a threat to Malay privileges further weakened PH while in government...	ISEAS
	Changes in the Demographic Structure and Economic Growth, July 2020. The population of East and Southeast Asia has been ageing rapidly and will begin to decline ahead of other regions by 2040. By 2060, the elderly will comprise 40% of their total population, thus making them ‘super-aged’ societies. These regions are undergoing major demographic structure changes due to a rapid decline in birth rate and extension of life expectancy. While increased life expectancy and a lower percentage of youth population will have a positive impact on the economic growth in the short and long terms, a higher percentage of older people will have a negative impact in the long term. Additionally, growth in the labour force has a positive impact on the short-term and long-term economic growth. While ageing population will slow down economic growth in the long term, it is possible that this decline could be balanced by a higher labour force growth rate. Surviving in a super-aged society requires policies that proactively enhance economic growth...	ISEAS
	Latest APEC publications: Stock Take of APEC Economies’ Existing Measures on Withdrawal of Subsidies in Cases Where There Has Been a Determination of IUU Fishing, July 2020 Standards and Process-Based Approach to Enhancing Cybersecurity, June 2020 Research Outcomes: Summary of Research Projects 2019, July 2020 Supporting MSMEs' Digitalization Amid COVID-19, July 2020 Research on Cloud-based Sharing Platform of Multi-Energy Microgrids for APEC Economies, July 2020 Workshop on Innovative Regulatory Policy Development: APEC Economies’ Approaches on Sharing Economy, July 2020 APEC Regional Trends Analysis, Update: Deeper Contraction Calls for Decisive Action, July 2020	APEC
	Virginia Review of Asian Studies 2020	VRAS
	Latest ADB Working Paper Series: Demographic Change, Technological Advances, and Growth: A Cross-Country Analysis, July 2020 Urban Agglomeration and Firm Innovation: Evidence from Asia, July 2020	ADB
	Latest ADBI Working Paper Series: Feeling the Heat: Climate Risks and the Cost of Sovereign Borrowing, June 2020 Measuring Impacts and Financing Infrastructure in Kazakhstan, June 2020 Financial Market and Capital Flow Dynamics During the COVID-19 Pandemic, June 2020 Proposing Regulatory-Driven Blue Finance Mechanism for Blue Economy Development, June 2020 Leveraging Islamic Banking and Finance for Small Business: Exploring the Conceptual and Practical Dimensions, June 2020 Managing the Risks of Public Infrastructure Financing: Toward Sustainability, June 2020 Fintech and Financial Literacy in Viet Nam, June 2020 Impact of Global Value Chains on Performance of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Sri Lanka: Evidence from Sri Lanka, June 2020 Determinants of Export Performance of SMEs in the Kyrgyz Republic, June 2020 Marine Tourism for Sustainable Development in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, June 2020 Connecting Cambodia’s SMEs to Regional Value Chains: The “Bridging Gap” and “Missing Link”, June 2020	ADB
	Latest ADB Publications: Pacific Economic Monitor, July 2020 ADB Green Bonds Newsletter and Impact Report 2020 Reforms, Opportunities, and Challenges for State-Owned Enterprises, July 2020 The COVID-19 Impact on the Philippine Business: Key Findings from the Enterprise Survey, July 2020 Green, Social, and Sustainability Bond for Asia and the Pacific, July 2020 Quality in Urban Health Care Services in India, July 2020 COVID-19 Exposes Asian Banks’ Vulnerability to US Dollar Funding, July 2020 Mongolia’s Economic Prospects: Resource-Rich and Landlocked between Two Giants, June 2020	ADB


July, 2020

	Religion and the Secular State in Kyrgyzstan, June 2020. Since independence, religion has become ever more important as an identity marker in Kyrgyzstan, with increased practical relevance in the everyday lives of many citizens. This religious revival poses challenges for a state that, like the other Central Asian states, has remained secular after the fall of communism. For this Muslim-majority state, the challenge has been to sustain the secularism of the state that was instituted during Soviet times, while replacing the anti-religious prejudice that characterized the militantly atheist socialist system with tolerance and respect for all religions. How has this played out in the past three decades? In the early years of independence, the government took a liberal approach to religion, and the number of mosques and religious schools expanded rapidly. Foreign sources of religious influences, including ideological and financial, met few restrictions and could flow into the country from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the Indian Subcontinent...	ISDP
	Religion and the Secular State in Turkmenistan, June 2020. Since gaining its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Turkmenistan has seen an increased presence of religion in everyday life. Islam has been a continuous cornerstone of Turkmen identity for centuries and is even more so in the post-Soviet period. Turkmeniçilik (Turkmen identity) and Musulmançilik (Muslim identity) are correlated. Similar to what is found in several Central Asian countries, Turkmenistan distinguishes between traditional and non-traditional religious practices. In Turkmenistan, the state actively privileges a form of traditional Islam. That is, the leadership mobilizes the faith in its construction of a post-Soviet, national Turkmen identity. Yet, Turkmenistan is an officially secular country with constitutional provisions for the separation of state from religion. What does this mean for religious practice in that Muslim-majority country? What is the role of the state in mobilizing religious practices even as it curtails others? And why are there so few external influences on worship in Turkmenistan...	ISDP
	A Steady Hand: The EU 2019 Strategy & Policy Toward Central Asia, November 2019. The launch of a new EU Strategy for Central Asia in June 2019 marked a milestone in the gradual development of relations between the EU and the region. The Strategy’s launch coincides with considerable change in and around the region. Internally, Central Asia has experienced a renewed commitment to reform and regionalism; meanwhile, the region has seen a greater engagement by neighboring powers, most immediately through large-scale Chinese and Russian initiatives, but also in the shape of a growing interest on the part of Asian powers as well as the United States. A closer analysis of the EU’s engagement with Central Asia paradoxically indicates a sort of parallel evolution: both the EU and the Central Asian states are products of the post-cold war era, and their relations have intensified along with their own internal evolution into ever more solid entities on the international scene...	ISDP
	Hong Kong: High Frequency Macroeconomic Forecasts Current Quarter Model: 2020Q3, July 2020. Affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, Hong Kong’s economy underwent an unprecedented collapse with a drop of 8.9% in 20Q1. As the disruption from the disease slowly receded, Hong Kong’s real GDP is estimated to have a lesser drop in 20Q2 by 6.4%, compared to the same period last year. With the biggest stimulus package ever unveiled by the Hong Kong government, Hong Kong’s economy is expected to pick up for recovery from the impact of the coronavirus. Although a full output has not yet been resumed, the economy is estimated to improve in the latter half and drop by 4.3% in 20Q3. Unemployment rate is expected to improve slightly to 5.5% in 20Q3, from the estimated 5.8% in 20Q2. Hong Kong’s GDP is expected to shrink by 5.5% for the year 2020 as a whole, representing a 2.5 percentage points downward revision from our previous forecast...	HKU
	Taking Stock of United States-Vietnam Relations 45 Years After the Fall of Saigon, June 2020. In April President Donald Trump tweeted a thank you note for Vietnam’s shipment of protective suits. Since then, Vietnam has sent about half a million personal protective equipment (PPE) items to the United States. This is how far U.S.-Vietnam relations have come on the 45th anniversary of the dramatic day (April 30) known in Vietnam as Saigon Liberation, or the Fall of Saigon. “I cannot think of two countries that have worked harder, done more, and done better to try to bring themselves together and change history, to change the future, to provide a future for people that is very, very different" - said then Secretary of State John Kerry in 2013 – the year when the two became comprehensive partners. As a young soldier, Kerry had fought and later opposed the war in Vietnam...	EWC
	The New in the “New Normal” for the Post-COVID Pacific Islands, June 2020. Finding a “new normal” has become a ubiquitous catchphrase expressing the hope that the instability and uncertainties of the Covid-19 pandemic will end soon. The concept describes either a temporary transitional state on the way back to an old pre-Covid normal or the altered reality of a transformed post-Covid order. For the Pacific Community’s 21 Pacific Island countries and territories (PICTs), their post-Covid options will be determined more by the choices made elsewhere than by their own preferences. Ironically, their new normal is likely to be business as usual for the PICTs. External influences have limited the extent to which they can control own their fate for centuries...	EWC
	Regional Rivalry in the Indo-Pacific: Vietnam’s Role as the 2020 Chair of ASEAN, April 2020. With rivalry escalating between the US and China, the stability of the Indo-Pacific region is under threat. As a newly elected non-permanent member of the UN Security Council and the 2020 chair of ASEAN—the Association of Southeast Asian Nations—Vietnam will have an opportunity to help maintain peace and stability. At the same time, as one of the smaller countries, Vietnam will look for ways to use regional rivalries to promote its own national interest. Vietnam’s perception of the balance of power between the US and China determines its foreign policy toward these two countries and toward ASEAN. In response to the China-US rivalry, Hanoi supports further US engagement in the region, not only to offset Beijing’s influence but also to leverage the role of ASEAN and avoid any extreme outcomes. Keywords: Vietnam, US, China, ASEAN, Indo-Pacific region, South China Sea...	EWC
	Going Digital, Going Green: Changing Value Chains and Regimes of Accumulation in the Automotive Industry in China, December 2019. This paper analyzes the changes in production and innovation networks in the automobile industry in China that have resulted from the transition to new-energy vehicles and digital driving technologies. This transformation is seen as a fundamental break with the present “neo- Fordist” regime of accumulation in the car industry and a rise of new forms of network-based mass production, comparable to the IT industry since the 1990s. The paper traces the complex politics of this transition embedded in different modes of regulation in the Chinese automotive sector, its impact on work and regimes of production, and the perspective of a broad-ranging “Foxconnization” of car manufacturing...	EWC
	'Ike Pono—Designing the Political and Economic Systems of the Internet Generation, May 2019. Like the Open World Movement, ‘Ike Pono itself is written using the principles of collaboration, transparency, sharing and empowerment. The stories and ideas in this introductory paper are, in effect, crowdsourced from numerous intellectuals into a single document. "'Ike Pono" is the Hawaiian term for certain knowledge. It is the shorthand I am using here for this dynamic collection of work by thought leaders that explains this movement, reveals its foundations, examines its tool, and provides a vision of what the political and economic systems of the internet generation will look like...	EWC
	Thailand’s Strategic Drift: Domestic Determinants Amidst Superpower Competition, June 2020. After more than five years of military-authoritarian government following its 13th successful coup in May 2014, Thailand’s most recent elections on 24 March 2019 yielded a controversial parliament and a fractious post-election coalition government, headed by incumbent Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha. This report argues that despite the challenges of domestic political preoccupations and the Covid-19 pandemic crisis, Thailand’s strategic role in the Indo-Pacific is too important to be marginalized and that the country is an indispensable piece of the regional jigsaw puzzle in an era of global power shifts and transitions. The current Sino-US competition involves far-reaching battleground between democracy and authoritarianism, and Thailand – one of America’s oldest treaty ally with increasingly close ties with China – is strategically consequential. The report explains the complexity of Thai’s foreign policy and implications for Australia.	ASPI
	Covid-19 Disinformation & Social Media Manipulation, June 2020. A range of actors are manipulating the information environment to exploit the COVID-19 crisis for strategic gain. ASPI’s International Cyber Policy Centre is tracking many of these state and non-state actors online, and will occasionally publish investigative, data-driven reporting that will focus on the use of disinformation, propaganda, extremist narratives and conspiracy theories by these actors. The bulk of ASPI’s data analysis uses our in-house Influence Tracker tool - a machine learning and data analytics capability that draws out insights from multi-language social media datasets. This new tool can ingest data in multiple languages and auto-translate, producing insights on topics, sentiment, shared content, influential accounts, metrics of impact and posting patterns...	ASPI
	A Pacific Disaster Prevention Review, June 2020. Disaster risk reduction is a global policy issue. Reducing the likelihood and severity of damage and related cascading and cumulative impacts from natural hazards has become central to all nations and has triggered the evolution of international cooperation, multilateral responses and humanitarian aid efforts over many years. The nexus between natural hazards and vulnerability is central to appreciating the scale of the damage caused by large disasters and resultant sociotechnical impacts. Multilateral efforts to mitigate the impacts of weather and climate hazards have progressed over time. The Yokohama Strategy for a Safer World: Guidelines for Natural Disaster Prevention, Preparedness and Mitigation was a harbinger for the Hyogo Framework for Action, which emphasised building the resilience of communities and nations to the effects of disasters, and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction as the current flagship of unified effort...	ASPI
	From Concentrated Vulnerability to Distributed Lethality—or How to Get More Maritime Bang for the Buck With Our Offshore Patrol Vessels, June 2020. This report proposes a way for the Australian Government to acquire maritime war-fighting capability quickly and affordably while promoting Australian industry and the continuous Naval Shipbuilding Program. It would deliver substantial new maritime capability in the next few years, in contrast to the current investment program, and it would introduce a transformative force structure for the price of one or two traditional large multi-role platforms. This would address key challenges faced by the ADF by enabling it to transition more quickly to a force structure that better supports operating concepts employing distributed lethality and greater use of autonomous systems and human–machine teaming.	ASPI
	Trends in Southeast Asia 2020 #9: Advocacy in a Time of Change: Business Associations and the Pakatan Harapan Government in Malaysia, 2018–20. There are at least 80–100 business associations (such as chambers of commerce or industry-specific bodies) in Malaysia today, representing over 600,000 firms. In February–April 2020, a range of chamber leaders and officers were interviewed to record their experiences of the recent Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration, and any future lessons for business associations in post GE-14 Malaysia. Few Malaysian chambers have had experience in dealing with changes of government, creating challenges when PH took office. Most associations were able to build effective working relationships with the new administration. Compared to Barisan Nasional (BN) ministers, PH ministers emphasized greater policy rigour, more evidence-based arguments, lower tolerance for corruption, and enhanced public accountability. Criticisms of PH include an early focus by some ministers on seemingly trivial issues, an initial distrust of some parts of the public service, and an inability to have all parts of the federal government work cohesively...	ISEAS
	Trends in Southeast Asia 2020 #8: Party Mergers in Myanmar: A New Development. Party mergers are a new development in Myanmar politics. Given that such mergers often assist the consolidation of new democratic regimes, some broader system-wide effects may also occur. Myanmar’s ethnic parties consistently choose merger strategies over other forms of pre-electoral coalition. This highlights a transition from a focus on questions of authoritarianism and democracy to one on the creation of a federal system of government with a stronger cleavage between competing Bamar and ethnic nationalisms. Despite cooperation among political parties outside the electoral process, pre-electoral coalitions such as constituency-sharing or campaigning for allies have generally not been successful. Five of the six mergers among ethnic parties attempted prior to the 2015 general election failed. However, between 2017 and 2019, five mergers involving parties representing the Chin, Kachin, Kayah, Kayin or Karen, and Mon ethnicities, achieved success...	ISEAS
	When Does Trade Reduce Poverty? Revisiting the Evidence for East Asia, June 2020. East Asia’s openness to trade is often credited as one of the main drivers behind the region’s impressive gains in economic growth and poverty reduction. In this paper, we examine the literature to determine whether there is a sound theoretical and empirical basis for this presumed relationship between trade and poverty reduction. Like many other studies on this topic, we find that the linkages are not automatic; the impact of trade on poverty is highly context-specific, and many factors come into play. Complementary policies are necessary to maximise trade’s potential impact on poverty reduction. We also explore the role of Aid-for-Trade in addressing specific trade-related capacity constraints which prevent developing countries from maximising the benefits from trade.	ISEAS
	Asian Development Outlook 2020 Supplement: Lockdown, Loosening, and Asia’s Growth Prospects, June 2020. This publication provides updated economic forecasts for Asia and the Pacific, taking into consideration the impact of coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Developing Asia is now projected to grow by only 0.1% in 2020, which would be the lowest regional growth outcome since 1961. Contraction is expected in all subregions except in East Asia. Growth will rebound to 6.2% in 2021 but composite GDP next year will remain below its pre-crisis trend, so the recovery will not be V-shaped. Excluding newly industrialized economies, regional growth is forecast at 0.4% in 2020 and 6.6% in 2021. Regional inflation is expected to remain benign at 2.9% in 2020 and 2.4% in 2021.	ADB
	Asia Bond Monitor, June 2020. This edition of the Asia Bond Monitor reviews developments in emerging East Asian local currency bond markets and discusses how the financial sector can help fund the fight against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Local currency bonds outstanding in emerging East Asian markets climbed to USD16.3 trillion in the first quarter of 2020. Risks remain heavily tilted to the downside given uncertainty about the effects of COVID-19. A section on the financial sector and COVID-19 discusses the use of pandemic bonds and social bonds to mobilize resources and of fintech to support inclusive growth and pandemic resilience. A chapter on financial architecture and innovation examines whether banks or equity and debt markets are more conducive to innovation. It finds that a market-based financial system is more conducive.	ADB
	Three Decades of International Financial Crises: What Have We Learned and What Still Needs to be Done? June 2020. This paper highlights lessons from the Asian Financial Crisis, the Global Financial Crisis, and the Eurozone Debt Crisis to identify what more can be done to strengthen financial systems. Fragility that periodically erupts into a full-blown financial crisis appears to be an integral feature of market-based financial systems despite the emergence of sophisticated risk-management tools and regulatory systems. This paper compares the three major crises of the past 3 decades to distill the lessons they offer and to identify what remains to be done. Its findings are especially pertinent as policy makers tackle the financial impacts of coronavirus disease (COVID-19).	ADB
	Latest ADBI Working Paper Series: Infrastructure Development and Public–Private Partnership: Measuring Impacts of Urban Transport Infrastructure in Pakistan, June 2020 Land Readjustment in Denpasar, Indonesia: Effects on Land Management, the Spatial Distribution of Land Prices, and the Sustainable Development Goals, June 2020 What Matters for the GVC Entry and Exit of Manufacturing SMEs in the Philippines? June 2020 Policy and Regulatory Changes for a Successful Startup Revolution: Experiences from the Startup Action Plan in India, June 2020 The Startup Environment and Funding Activity in India, June 2020 Earned Income Tax Credit Experiments in the People’s Republic of China, June 2020 The Impact of Involvement in the Global Value Chain on Coffee Farmers in Indonesia: Case Study of Margamulya Coffee Producer Cooperative and Mitra Malabar Cooperative, Bandung, Indonesia, June 2020	ADB
	Latest ADB Publications: The Impact of COVID-19 on Tourism Enterprises in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic: An Initial Assessment, June 2020 Asia and the Pacific Renewable Energy Status Report, Published 2019 Environmental, Social, and Governance Investment: Opportunities and Risks for Asia, Published 2020 Post-2020 Poverty Reduction Policy Options for the People's Republic of China, Published 2020	ADB
	Latest APEC publications: COVID-19, 4IR and the Future of Work, June 2020 Promoting Consumer Protection in Digital Trade: Challenges and Opportunities, June 2020 Capacity Building to Promote Trade of Products that Replace those with Mercury to Reduce Marine Pollution, June 2020 Capacity Building on Global Marine Debris Monitoring and Modeling: Supports Protection of the Marine Environment, June 2020 Prospect Analysis for Sustainable Development of Tourism in Remote Areas of APEC Economies – Phase I, June 2020 APEC Compendium of Best Practices: Women in Agriculture and Fisheries, June 2020 3rd APEC Low Carbon Model Town Symposium, June 2020 APEC Low Carbon Model Town Project Dissemination Phase 2 - Da Lat City, Viet Nam, June 2020 APEC Low Carbon Model Town Project Dissemination Phase 2 - Davao City, Philippines, June 2020 Reducing Risks and Coping with Climate Change Along Coastal Areas: Workshop on Adaptation Strategies to Climate Change and the Role of Public-Private Collaboration, June 2020 Guideline of Products with Added Mercury, June 2020 APEC Public-Private Dialogue on Sharing Economy and Digital Technology Connectivity for Inclusive Development, June 2020	APEC


June, 2020

	MAS Survey of Professional Forecasters, June 2020. The Singapore economy contracted by 0.7% in Q1 2020 compared with the same period last year, slightly less than respondents’ forecasts of a 0.8% decline in the previous survey. In the current survey, the respondents expect the economy to contract 11.8% year-on-year in Q2 2020...	MAS
	Monetary Authority of Singapore: Macroeconomic Review, Volume XIX, Issue 1, April 2020 (Full Report, Presentation Slides for Briefing): Monetary Policy Statement Chapter 1: The International Economy Chapter 2: The Singapore Economy Chapter 3: Labour Market and Inflation Chapter 4: Macroeconomic Policy Special Feature A Asia’s Electronics Supply Chains and Global Trade Corridors Special Feature B Regulation, Technology and the Banking Sector Special Feature C Privacy, Trust in Banks, and Use of Cash	MAS
	Trends in Southeast Asia 2020 #7: From Tao Guang Yang Hui to Xin Xing: China’s Complex Foreign Policy Transformation and Southeast Asia. This article traces China’s foreign policy transformation from 2013 to the present. It also examines Deng Xiaoping’s doctrinal response to the political crises of 1989–91 and compares it to current Chinese foreign policy doctrines. From the early 1980s until the 2010s, China’s foreign policy has generally focused on keeping a low profile. Deng’s Tao Guang Yang Hui foreign policy doctrine is characterized by its “No’s”, while Xi Jinping’s Xin Xing is marked by its “New’s”. The move from Tao Guang Yang Hui to Xin Xing is a major doctrinal shift in China’s foreign policy. Since the 19th Party Congress in 2017, Xi’s “new” narratives have seemingly dominated Chinese foreign policy. However, old principles, particularly that of “non-interference” or “no hegemony”, are still alive, albeit in a different form...	ISEAS
	Defending the Maritime Rules-Based Order: Regional Responses to the South China Sea Disputes, Published 2020. The seas are an increasingly important domain for understanding the balance-of-power dynamics between a rising People’s Republic of China and the United States. Specifically, disputes in the South China Sea have intensified over the past decade. Multifaceted disputes concern overlapping claims to territory and maritime jurisdiction, strategic control over maritime domain, and differences in legal interpretations of freedom of navigation. These disputes have become a highly visible microcosm of a broader contest between a maritime order underpinned by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and challenger conceptions of order that see a bigger role for rising powers in generating new rules and alternative interpretations of existing international law. This issue examines the responses of non-claimant regional states—India, Australia, South Korea, and Japan—to the South China Sea disputes...	EWC
	Pyongyang’s Foreign Relations: Amidst a Diplomatic Standstill, Will Old Friendships Fade Away? May 2020. North Korea’s tumultuous path over the past few years from nuclear standoff to summit diplomacy put a spotlight on Pyongyang’s bilateral relations across the Indo-Pacific. The February 2017 assassination of Kim Jong Un’s exiled half-brother at the Kuala Lumpur airport dramatized the malign aspects of North Korea’s overseas presence, and presaged Southeast Asia’s role as an important front in the incipient U.S.-led maximum pressure campaign against Pyongyang. As maximum pressure transitioned to engagement with North Korea, U.S.-DPRK summits in Singapore and Vietnam raised hopes that North Korea could follow the examples of these host nations, and move forward on a more hopeful path toward economic development and reconciliation with old adversaries...	EWC
	The Strengths and the Opportunities of the New Silk Road Strategy in the Middle East, May 2020. The Middle East is situated at the heart of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The new Silk Road strategy is one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects in modern history, and has the potential to reconfigure and optimize global trade routes. Hence, China seeks to develop its relationships with Middle Eastern states for the need to secure its energy imports, to secure its exports via routes that pass through the Middle East and, in the longer term, to increase its regional influence and displace the United States in the region. BRI has become the main focus of China’s foreign policy in the Middle East. The weaknesses of China’s BRI can be turned into strengths and opportunities as long as Beijing faces them squarely and responds positively...	EWC
	Same Game, No Winners: COVID-19, U.S.-China Rivalry, and Southeast Asian Geopolitics, May 2020. The COVID-19 outbreak has spawned a plethora of commentaries forecasting the geopolitical consequences of the pandemic. For some observers the virus has caused a decisive shift in the balance of influence, with China emerging as the paramount power (especially in the Indo-Pacific) and America teetering on the brink of losing its status as global hegemon. Other pundits have offered less paradigm-shifting assessments: that COVID-19 is unlikely to upend the existing international order but may catalyze existing global trends. Four months into what is very likely to be a long and wrenching crisis it is, of course, very difficult to make predictions. However, we believe that at least in Southeast Asia, what we are witnessing thus far is less a rupture event and more an amplification of the current geopolitical dynamics...	EWC
	The United States and Japan’s Semiconductor Supply Chain Diversification Efforts Should Include Southeast Asia, May 2020. Responding to oncoming U.S.-China commercial friction in recent years, firms operating in the complex, dense semiconductor ecosystem centered on the United States and Northeast Asia began a gradual evaluation of whether and how to reshape their supply chains and investments, and still maximize profit. As a foundational industry for maintaining economic competitiveness and national security, semiconductors serve as a keystone in U.S. and Japanese technological leadership. Against the backdrop of nascent U.S.-China technology competition and the standstill from the coronavirus, adjustments to enhance resiliency and mitigate disruption through developing semiconductor supply chains and investments outside of China, including in Southeast Asia, should be supported...	EWC
	U.S., Japan, and Southeast Asia Cooperation: Building a Data Governance Blueprint, April 2020. Data is the new oil. And as the latest and most valuable resource on the planet, whoever harnesses its currency will dominate the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The United States and Japan are at the forefront of advocating for the free flow of data across the world, while other states such a China and India support localizing data. As the vanguards of the current rules-based international order that embraces cross-border data flow, it is imperative for the United States and Japan to advance a collective vision toward data governance. However, to achieve this, they must work in unison with like-minded states along with diverse stakeholders, especially in Southeast Asia—where there are also conflicting views toward data governance. Such partnerships must be based on mutual interests supported by credible initiatives to bring forth concrete and equitable outcomes...	EWC
	Assessing the Quad: Prospects and Limitations of Quadrilateral Cooperation for Advancing Australia’s Interests, May 2020. After a ten-year hiatus, the Australia-India-Japan-US Security Quadrilateral Dialogue — informally known as the Quad — was resurrected in 2017 with the aim to support a ‘free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific Region’. While there are important differences among the four countries on threat perceptions, military capability, strategic priority, capacity to bear the costs of potential retaliation, strategic culture and constitutional imperatives, these differences place limitations on Quadrilateral cooperation, but do not preclude it. All four countries have common interests in maintaining a stable balance of power in the region, freedom of the seas, an open rules-based economic order, to counter debt-trap diplomacy and to limit the use of coercion by a state to assert territorial claims. Under the leadership of President Xi Jinping, China has become more assertive and ambitious, vigorously pressing its claims in the East and South China seas and promoting its BRI. Concerned to preserve the existing liberal rules-based order, the Quad states have already responded by increasing their cooperation...	Lowy
	After COVID-19: Australia and the World Rebuild (Volume 1), 2020. This Strategy report offers policy-focused analysis of the world we will face once the pandemic has passed. At a time when all our assumptions about the shape of Australian society and the broader global order are being challenged, we need to take stock of likely future directions. The report analyses 26 key topics, countries and themes, ranging from Australia’s domestic situation through to the global balance of power, climate and technology issues. In each case we asked the authors to consider four questions. What impact did Covid-19 have on their research topic? What will recovery mean? Will there be differences in future? What policy prescriptions would you recommend for the Australian government?	ASPI
	National Security Agencies and the Cloud: An Urgent Capability Issue for Australia, May 2020. This new ASPI report, argues for the development of a national security cloud. If the community doesn’t shift to cloud infrastructure, it’ll cut itself off from the most powerful software and applications available, placing itself in a less capable position using legacy software that vendors no longer support. The report’s authors argue that if this need isn’t addressed rapidly and comprehensively, Australia will quite simply be at a major disadvantage against potential adversaries who are using this effective new technology at scale to advance their own analysis and operational performance. The report identifies four significant obstacles that stand in the way of Australia’s national security community moving to cloud infrastructure...	ASPI
	North of 26° South and the Security of Australia: Views From the Strategist Vol. 2, May 2020, is a new report by ASPI’s The North and Australia’s Security Program. The report builds on Volume 1 by presenting an all new series of articles by a range of trusted and up and coming authors exploring the continued importance of Northern Australia to national security and defence strategy. Northern Australia had become key political, military and economic terrain in a new era of major-power competition. Despite those developments, Australian policymakers have struggled to develop a cohesive northern Australia strategy. While Australia has a long-term defence capability plan, we need to continue to test our assumptions about the defence of northern Australia and the north’s significance to national security. In December 2019, Defence had finished the first draft of its internal review of Australia’s 2016 Defence White Paper...	ASPI
	Cybercrime in Southeast Asia, Published 2020. Cybercrime is a serious threat facing Australia and the world, but this criminal activity is often wrongly viewed as a near invisible online phenomenon, rather than a ‘real world’ concern. Behind every attack sits one or more people in a physical location. Those people are products of particular socio-economic conditions, which influence the types of regional and local cybercrime activity they specialise in. Cybercrime isn’t evenly distributed around the globe, but is centred around hotspots, which offer potential breeding grounds or safe harbours from where offenders can strike. This is true in Australia’s own region, where some Southeast Asian countries are emerging as bases for serious regional, and even global, cybercrime threats. We’re not proactively tackling the locations where the cybercrime threat develops and matures...	ASPI
	Terrorism Is Terrorism: The Christchurch Terror Attack From an Israeli CT Perspective, May 2020. This report by Professor Boaz Ganor examines the different phases of the Christchurch terror attack, its similarities to and differences from Islamic jihadist terror attacks, and the lessons to be learnt for preventing, thwarting and managing such attacks, based on Israeli counter-terrorism experience. Lone-wolf attacks have become a widespread phenomenon in many countries, some have ended with a limited number of casualties. The 2019 Christchurch terror attack resulted in dozens of casualties. This report rigorously examines each phase of the attack to assess where points of intervention may have been overlooked and what can be learned from this experience to evolve counter-terrorism strategy and methods...	ASPI
	Running on Empty? a Case Study of Fuel Security for Civil and Military Air Operations at Darwin Airport, May 2020. Most Australians have no idea how quickly they’ll be running on empty if fuel supplies from overseas are cut in a crisis. For decades, the nation has relied on risky, “just in time” deliveries of the fuel necessary for transport systems, industry, policing and individual motoring needs—and even the operations of the Australian Defence Force. This report describes how this situation is so fraught, and the national reserve so small, that during major military exercises and actual operations such as the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, fuel stocks have reached critically low levels.	ASPI
	Economic Corridors in Southeast Asia: Success Factors, Impacts and Policy, May 2020. Economic corridors have gained popularity as a potentially important instrument in the development and transformation of low and middle income economies. But why have some countries had more success with them than others? What role does governance, institutions, finance and policy frameworks play in determining their success? How can we measure their impacts? We try and answer these questions by looking closely at, and drawing lessons from, two case studies of successful corridors in Asia – Malaysia and Thailand. A key conclusion is that economic corridors are more likely to succeed with greater domestic spillovers when the physical and policy infrastructure are conducive.	ISEAS
	Latest APEC publications: Laboratory Guide: Methodologies for Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing, May 2020 APEC Regional Trends Analysis - What Goes Around Comes Around: Pivoting to a Circular Economy; Uncertainty Tests APEC’s Resilience amid COVID-19, May 2020 Leveraging the Digital Economy to Promote an Inclusive Tourism Industry: Workshop Summary Report, May 2020 Blood Screening and Processing Centralization through Development of Center of Excellence, May 2020 Export Restrictions and Food Security in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic, May 2020 The Role of Standardization in Promoting Employment Related to the Silver Economy, May 2020 2019 PSU Annual Report, May 2020 Workshop on Best Practices Sharing to Improve Application of the APEC Non-Binding Principles for Domestic Regulation of the Services Sector, May 2020 Research on Promoting Trade in Services by SMEs and Women Entrepreneurs, May 2020 Capacity Building Workshop Series on APEC e-Instruments Utilization: Series 1 on APEC MSMEs Marketplace Utilization, May 2020 Promoting Trade in Medical Goods to Tackle COVID-19 Challenges, April 2020 Overview of the SME Sector in the APEC Region: Key Issues on Market Access and Internationalization, April 2020 Aligning Conformity Assessment Efforts for Energy Efficiency Regulations of Motors in the APEC and ASEAN Regions, April 2020 Recommendations for Implementation of Smart Sustainable City Information and Communication Technology Infrastructures in the APEC Region, April 2020 Survey for Review of Chemical Management Regulatory Systems Worldwide, April 2020 Survey for Review of Chemical Management Regulatory Systems Worldwide - Summary, April 2020 APEC Cross-Border E-Commerce Training (CBET) Workshop: Enabling APEC SMEs to Access Global Market, April 2020 APEC in the Epicentre of COVID-19, April 2020 Workshop on Technological Challenges and Opportunities to Supply Flexibility to Electric Systems, April 2020	APEC
	Latest ADBI Working Paper Series: Human Capital and Participation in Global Value Chains: Evidence from Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Indonesia, May 2020 Revisiting the Public Debt Stability Condition: Rethinking the Domar Condition, May 2020 Disintegration of the EU and the Implications for ASEAN, May 2020 Digital Transformation: Some Implications for Financial and Macroeconomic Stability, May 2020 Global Value Chain Participation and Firms’ Innovations: Evidence from Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Viet Nam, May 2020 Europe and Northeast Asia – Different Responses to Financial Crises, May 2020 Embracing Responsible Innovation and Empowering Consumers in the Digital Age, May 2020 Is International Monetary Policy Coordination Feasible for the ASEAN-5 + 3 Countries? May 2020 Swedish Economic Integration into the European Union as a Latecomer: Policy Recommendations for Asian Economic Integration, May 2020 Nonlinear Tail Dependence between the Housing and Energy Markets, May 2020 Does Fintech Contribute to Systemic Risk? Evidence from the US and Europe, May 2020 Macroeconomic Challenges and the Resilience of Emerging Market Economies in the 21st Century, May 2020 Trade, Global Value Chains, and Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Thailand: A Firm-Level Panel Analysis, May 2020 Strategic Environmental Regulation and Inbound Foreign Direct Investment in the People’s Republic of China, May 2020	ADB
	Latest ADB Publications: An Updated Assessment of the Economic Impact of COVID-19, May 2020 Reforming the Personal Income Tax System in the People's Republic of China (Observations and Suggestions), Published 2020 ADB Annual Report 2019 (Main Report. Financial Report) Enhancing Women-Focused Investments in Climateand Disaster Resilience, May 2020 Irrigation Systems for Climate Change Adaptation in Viet Nam, Published 2020	ADB


May, 2020

	West Papua: The Issue That Won't Go Away for Melanesia, May 2020. West Papuan grievances with Indonesian rule, including human rights abuses, militarisation and frustrations about self-determination, have attracted increasing international attention and concern, particularly in neighbouring countries of Melanesia. The Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) comprising Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia’s Kanaks, is the appropriate regional grouping to promote the issue, but struggles to do anything. A rising Indonesia is gaining in influence throughout the region, countering support for West Papuan independence aims, and MSG members have become divided over West Papua. But recent flare-ups between West Papuans and security forces, combined with steady international support for the West Papuan struggle, and the emergence of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP), foreshadowed a looming regional diplomatic wrestle...	Lowy
	Eyes Wide Open: Managing the Australia-China Antarctic Relationship, April 2020. Given recent broader tensions in the China–Australia relationship, China’s global ambitions, lack of progress on key Antarctic policy initiatives and the potential for significant geopolitical consequences for the future of Antarctica and for Australia’s strategic interests, it’s important that Australian policymakers reconsider our long-term Antarctic policy settings. The report found no clear evidence that China is violating the Antarctic Treaty. But it argues we should apply a more sharply focused assessment of the costs and benefits of cooperation, given China’s more assertive international posture and increasing interests in Antarctica...	ASPI
	Returning to Work During the Pandemic: Testing, Surveillance, Apps and Data as Our Near Term Future, April 2020. National Cabinet is meeting to begin the pathway to get Australia back to work and school. That's while we are still in the midst of 'flattening the curve' and in a world without a vaccine or even effective therapeutic treatment to reduce death rates from the virus. So, how might Australia return to work without getting back on the elevator of exponentially growing infection and deaths? This Strategic Insight sketches out that path, with the answers involving mass testing, and companies funded and supported to do rapid testing, data collection and analysis. It will rely on smartphone apps for data collection to enable outbreak suppression and contact tracing. Critically, national cabinet must communicate how this new approach will work alongside the existing social distancing restrictions, which will need to remain in place for months to come...	ASPI
	Automation Challenges in Southeast Asia, April 2020. Trends around much of the world toward greater automation are accelerating, with significant implications for workers. In 2018, McKinsey & Co. released a document claiming that, by 2030, up to 375 million people worldwide may forfeit their current jobs due to automation and technological disruption. ASEAN is especially likely to be affected. According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), the impact of technological disruption on ASEAN will be profound. Automation will result in the obsolescence of jobs in industries ranging from textiles to automotive manufacturing. Southeast Asia’s labor force and economic growth must address this challenge head on...	EWC
	The Strategic Imperatives of Modi’s Indo-Pacific Ocean Initiative, April 2020. The concepts of ‘strategic autonomy’ and ‘inclusiveness’ have been core to India’s Indo-Pacific policies. Without taking a defined position on the contested power politics in the Indo-Pacific, India has largely maintained cordial relations with most countries and stakeholders in the region. As a corollary to this, the rubric of Security and Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR) advances India’s maritime diplomacy in the Indo-Pacific, reflecting India’s desire to manage maritime security and governance in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s proposition to establish the Indo-Pacific Ocean Initiative (IPOI) at the 14th East Asia Summit (EAS) on November 4, 2019, primarily draws on this assertion...	EWC
	Trends in Southeast Asia 2020 #6: The Free and Open Indo-Pacific Beyond 2020: Similarities and Differences between the Trump Administration and a Democrat White House. American Indo-Pacific policy will be driven by its China policy, regardless of whether there is a second-term Donald Trump administration or a first-term Joe Biden administration. The Republicans will continue to frame the major challenge as “balancing” against Chinese power and “countering” the worst aspects of Beijing’s policies. Establishment or moderate Democrats under Biden will choose the softer language of seeking a favourable “competitive coexistence” in the military, economic, political and global governance realms, and the reassertion of American leadership and moral standing...	ISEAS
	Trends in Southeast Asia 2020 #5: Malaysia’s Student Loan Company: Tackling the PTPTN Time Bomb. The Malaysian National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) was set up in 1997. Since then, it has accumulated a massive debt amounting to RM40 billion in principal plus RM13 billion in interest. All these are guaranteed by the Malaysian government. It is now the biggest provider of student loans in the country and continues to play a very important role in catalysing socio-economic mobility, especially among the ethnic Malays which is the majority community in the country. However, the business model employed by PTPTN is irrational and unsustainable. It borrows from the financial market at, on average, 4 to 5 per cent, and lends to students at 1 per cent. No serious effort has been made to revamp this model, and all public discussions around it have been driven by political populism...	ISEAS
	Asian Development Outlook 2020 Full Report and Highlights. Growth in the region is expected to slow sharply to 2.2% in 2020 under the effects of the current health emergency and then rebound to 6.2% in 2021. Excluding Asia’s high-income newly industrialized economies, growth will drop from 5.7% to 2.4% this year before recovering to 6.7% next year. Headline inflation accelerated in 2019 as food prices edged up but remained low by historical standards. Inflation will climb further to 3.2% in 2020, but declining food prices in the latter half of the year will set the stage for easing inflation in 2021. Downside risks to the outlook are severe, most notably from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In these difficult times, when challenges to growth abound, innovation is critical to inclusive and environmentally sustainable growth. While some economies in developing Asia are near or at the global innovation frontier, many others lag behind.	ADB
	Latest ADBI Working Paper Series: The Real-Time Impact on Real Economy—A Multivariate BVAR Analysis of Digital Payment Systems and Economic Growth in India, April 2020 The Effects of Privatization and Corporate Governance of SOEs in Transition Economy: The Case of Kazakhstan, April 2020 Creation and Evolution of European Economic and Monetary Union: Lessons for Asian Economic Integration, April 2020 Peer Effect, Political Competition, and Eco-Efficiency: Evidence from City-Level Data in the People’s Republic of China, April 2020 Assessing Macroeconomic Uncertainties for an Emerging Economy, April 2020 Evolution of ASEAN Financial Integration in the Comparative Perspective, April 2020 Regulatory Frameworks for Reforms of State-Owned Enterprises in Thailand and Malaysia, April 2020 Reflections on the Development of Regional Financing Arrangements: Experience from Europe, April 2020 Role of Regional Cooperation and Integration in Improving Energy Insecurity in South Asia, April 2020 Firm Size and Participation in the International Economy: Evidence from Bangladesh, April 2020 Driving Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Participation in Global Value Chains: Evidence from India, April 2020 Foreign-Currency Exposures and the Financial Channel of Exchange Rates: Eroding Monetary Policy Autonomy in the Asia and Pacific Region? April 2020 The Determinants of Participation in Global Value Chains: A Cross-Country, Firm-Level Analysis, April 2020 Financing of Tech Startups in Selected Asian Countries, April 2020 Belts, Roads, and Regions: The Dynamics of Chinese and Japanese Infrastructure Connectivity Initiatives and Europe’s Responses, April 2020 Loans from My Neighbors: East Asian Commercial Banks, Banking Integration, and Bank Default Risk, April 2020 The Quiet Revolution in Women’s Human Capital and the Gender Earnings Gap in the People’s Republic of China, April 2020 Credit Risk Database for SME Financial Inclusion, April 2020 Time to Look East: Lessons from Revisiting Asian Economic Integration, April 2020 Economic Integration in Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Member Countries: Financing Economic Corridors and Sovereign Bonds Market, April 2020 Comparative Study on the Legal Framework on General Differentiated Integration Mechanisms in the European Union, APEC, and ASEAN, April 2020 Trade Impact of Reducing Time and Costs at Borders in the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Region, April 2020 Exploring Community-Based Financing Schemes to Finance Social Protection, March 2020 Household Economic Prudence in Thailand, March 2020 Deintegration in the European Union and Lessons for Asia, March 2020	ADB
	Latest ADB Working Paper Series: Limited Impact of Business Development Programs on Profitability in the Presence of Ambiguity Aversion, April 2020	ADB
	Latest ADB Publications: Basic Statistics 2020 Advancing the K-12 Reform from the Ground: A Case Study in the Philippines, April 2020 Enhancing Productivity for Poverty Reduction in India, April 2020 Futures Thinking in Asia and the Pacific: Why Foresight Matters for Policy Makers, April 2020 ADB’s Comprehensive Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Policy Paper, April 2020 Global Shortage of Personal Protective Equipment amid COVID-19: Supply Chains, Bottlenecks, and Policy Implications, April 2020 Managine Infectious Medical Waste during the COVID-19 Pandemic, Published 2020 Office of Anticorruption and Integrity 2019 Annual Report Office of Anticorruption and Integrity 2019 Annual Report Highlights Macroeconomic Update: Nepal, April 2020 Bioengineering for Green Infrastructure, Published 2020 Building the Future of Quality Infrastructure, Published 2020 Crowdfunding with Music Securities: A New Approach to Impact Investing, March 2020	ADB
	Latest APEC publications: Workshop on Distributed Energy Resources Regulation and Rate Design, April 2020 Study on Optimal Use of Small-scale Shallow-draft LNG Carriers and FSRUs in the APEC Region, April 2020 Role of Management Capability in SMEs, April 2020 Intellectual Property Commercialization for SMEs, April 2020 Plant Back Better Toolkit, April 2020	APEC


April, 2020

	Hong Kong: High Frequency Macroeconomic Forecasts Current Quarter Model: 2020Q2, April 2020. Ravaged by the COVID-19 outbreak, Hong Kong’s domestic and external demand is expected to collapse in 20Q1. Hong Kong’s real GDP is estimated to plunge by 8.3% in 20Q1 when compared with the same period in 2019. The instant spread of the pandemic disease likely drags developed economies into recession. Clouded by the coronavirus, trade tension and oil-price war, the output decline is expected to continue and drop by 5.2% in 20Q2, when compared with the same period in 2019. Unemployment rate is expected to worsen to 4.5% in 20Q2. Hong Kong will confront with difficult challenges amid the adverse economic condition in 2020. Hong Kong’s GDP is expected to shrink by 3% for the year 2020 as a whole, representing a 3.4 percentage points downward revision from our previous forecast, and is the largest decline since the 1998 Asian Financial Crisis...	HKU
	The Path of Least Resilience: Autocratic Rule and External Powers in the Middle East, March 2020. Almost a decade since the Arab uprisings promised democratic revival in the Middle East, most countries in the region remain firmly in the grip of autocrats. External powers, from Russia and China to the United States and Europe, have either helped the region’s dictators stay in power, or have shaped their policies toward the region in the expectation that such regimes will persist. In effect external powers have made a bet on authoritarian resilience, not least because it has seemed an easier way to secure their respective interests. But a closer look at two countries, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, where authoritarianism is often said to have been revived, underlines the way regimes are struggling to find a new basis for popular legitimacy. As a result, both regimes are becoming even more reliant than usual on repression, bringing with it risks of new explosions of civil unrest. External powers may have hoped they were making a safe wager on continued authoritarian rule in the Middle East. But the Saudi and Egyptian cases suggest that they have chosen instead the path of least resilience.	Lowy
	Uyghurs for Sale, March 2020. The Chinese government has facilitated the mass transfer of Uyghur and other ethnic minority citizens from the far west region of Xinjiang to factories across the country. Under conditions that strongly suggest forced labour, Uyghurs are working in factories that are in the supply chains of at least 83 well-known global brands in the technology, clothing and automotive sectors, including Apple, BMW, Gap, Huawei, Nike, Samsung, Sony and Volkswagen. This report estimates that more than 80,000 Uyghurs were transferred out of Xinjiang to work in factories across China between 2017 and 2019, and some of them were sent directly from detention camps. The estimated figure is conservative and the actual figure is likely to be far higher. In factories far away from home, they typically live in segregated dormitories, undergo organised Mandarin and ideological training outside working hours, are subject to constant surveillance, and are forbidden from participating in religious observances. Numerous sources, including government documents, show that transferred workers are assign minders and have limited freedom of movement.	ASPI
	Counterterrorism Yearbook 2020. his year’s Counterterrorism Yearbook draws upon 19 contributing authors, each a renowned thought leader in their field, to promote practical counterterrorism solutions by reviewing a global range of terrorism developments and counterterrorism responses. ASIO’s Director General, Mike Burgess commends the publication for its ‘valuable contribution to the public discourse on counterterrorism’. While maintaining its geographic focus, the Yearbook now includes thematic chapters on mental health, strategic policing, the media, the terror–crime nexus and terrorist innovation. These new thematic chapters have been included to encourage governments to consider more proactive CT agendas that move beyond the current focus on disrupting plots and discouraging people from joining and supporting terrorist groups. The focus here has been on promoting new thinking on how to deal with emergent areas of concern, such as comorbidity of mental health, use of gaming platforms, and artificial intelligence.	ASPI
	A United States-Kiribati Compact of Free Association Would Yield Mutual Dividends, March 2020. A Compact of Free Association (COFA) with the Republic of Kiribati would strengthen the U.S. strategic posture in the Pacific, win the moral high ground in the global climate change debate, and strengthen Washington's diplomatic footing in Pacific regional architecture, while giving Kiribati strong defense guarantees, generous immigration terms, and modest development assistance. Kiribati is a Pacific Micronesian country, as are Nauru and the Freely Associated States (FAS), consisting of Palau, Micronesia, and the Marshall Islands...	EWC
	New Zealand Picks up on the Indo-Pacific, March 2020. The United States should, I have argued, pursue the “Pacific Principle.” The main features of this principle are power, purpose, and commitment to access and engagement across the region in all dimensions from security to public diplomacy. These actions matter more than what the United States calls the region running from our west coast to the eastern coast of Africa. The Pacific Island countries (PICs) and region (PIR) are crucial for many reasons; and not only because of China’s rising activities there. Four Indo-Pacific contests, over the balance of power, order, relations, and narratives, are having particular impacts on the PIR...	EWC
	Trends in Southeast Asia 2020 #4: Deepening the Understanding of Social Media’s Impact in Southeast Asia. Southeast Asia’s Internet users are far more diverse than usually reported. They range from the urban youth with laptops and high-speed Wi-Fi, to the older generation semi-rural and rural users with affordable mobile phones for Facebook and WhatsApp.Southeast Asians generally trust social media platforms more than in Western societies. This trust in social media reflects a lack of trust in local mainstream media and official sources of information. What campaign information (and disinformation) is being spread and which ones are most successful are essential for understanding how voters in Southeast Asia use and trust social media...	ISEAS
	Industry 4.0 Policies in Thailand, February 2020. The Thai government has implemented a number of policies to harness the potential of the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0). These policies can be categorized into three broad categories, namely, digital infrastructure, skill formation, and target industries. As is often observed for other policies in Thailand, the policy coverage for Industry 4.0 is too broad. Many aspects are included without a clear prioritisation. There is no effective mechanism to assess these policies and their implementation largely depends on government agencies’ preferences. The existing assessment mechanism induces these agencies to undertake easy-to-achieve activities such as training...	ISEAS
	Latest APEC publications: Comprehensive Review of Potentially Anti-Competitive Laws and Regulations, March 2020 APEC Guidelines and Best Practices for the Adoption of Global Data Standards, March 2020 APEC Workshop on Promoting Renewable Energy Integration and Energy Efficiency, March 2020 Supporting Women in Starting Online Business Program, March 2020 Update of 2009 APEC Report on Economic Costs of Marine Debris to APEC Economies, March 2020 APEC Energy Handbook 2017, March 2020 APEC Energy Statistics 2017, March 2020 Path to Inclusive Energy Transition in the APEC Region: How to Enhance Women’s Empowerment in the Energy Field, March 2020 Rural Development through the Lens of Indigenous Communities and their Agribusinesses, March 2020 Guidebook on SME Embracing Digital Transformation, March 2020 Local Innovation Ecosystem Best Practices, March 2020 Follow-Up Peer Review on Energy Efficiency in Peru, March 2020 Lessons Learned from Promotion Mechanisms Focused on Boosting Energy Solutions in Remote Areas, March 2020 APEC Workshop on Improving Electric Grid Resilience to Natural Disasters, March 2020 Trends and Developments in Provisions and Outcomes of RTA/FTAs Implemented in 2018 by APEC Economies, March 2020 Summary Report of the Regional Workshop on Lung Cancer Prevention and Control, March 2020 Regulations, Policies and Initiatives on E-Commerce and Digital Economy for APEC MSMEs' Participation in the Region, March 2020	APEC
	The Economic Impact of the COVID-19 Outbreak on Developing Asia, March 2020. A new coronavirus disease, now known as COVID-19, was first identified in Wuhan, People’s Republic of China (PRC), in early January 2020. From the information known at this point, several facts are pertinent. First, it belongs to the same family of coronaviruses that caused the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2003 and the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak in 2012. Second, the mortality rate (number of deaths relative to number of cases), which is as yet imprecisely estimated, is probably in the range of 1%–3.4%—significantly lower than 10% for SARS and 34% for MERS, but substantially higher than the mortality rate for seasonal flu, which is less than 0.1%...	ADB
	Asia Bond Monitor, March 2020. This issue of the Asia Bond Monitor reveals that the COVID-19 pandemic and deepening global economic uncertainty are weighing heavily on local currency bond markets of emerging East Asian economies. Apart from emerging East Asia, government bond yields have also declined in major advanced economies and select European markets between 31 December 2019 and 29 February 2020. Local currency bonds outstanding in emerging East Asia totaled $16 trillion at the end of December 2019, up 2.4% from September 2019 and 12.5% higher than December 2018. Bond issuance in the region totaled $1.44 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2019, a 9.5% decline from September last year...	ADB
	Innovate Indonesia: Unlocking Growth through Technological Transformation, March 2020. Indonesia is the world’s fourth most populous nation and its tenth largest economy. It is by far the largest country by both measures in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). It has sustained average economic growth rates above 5% since 2000 and made significant strides in reducing poverty. Yet economic analyses point to a number of factors constraining Indonesia’s growth potential, notably tepid productivity growth and slowing expansion in the labor force and manufacturing industries. Technology has a key role to play in overcoming these constraints and boosting future growth. Internationally, advanced and developing economies alike see emerging technologies offering sustainable growth...	ADB
	Work and Social Protection in Asia and the Pacific during the Fourth Industrial Revolution, March 2020. The universal right to social protection remains elusive in Asia and the Pacific, as in the rest of the world. In developing Asia and the Pacific, most new entrants to the labor market do so informally; beyond the informal economy, the nature of work in the region is often in temporary contracts. Regular, full-time employment in the formal economy encompasses a minority of labor market participants, so the majority of those working are usually without social protection, which has been traditionally associated with labor market participation...	ADB
	Handbook on High-Speed Rail and Quality of Life, Published 2020. Since the origin of the railways in the United Kingdom in the early 19th century, “high-speed” has been a time-relative concept. The 56-kilometer (km) Liverpool–Manchester Railway was the world’s first commercial passenger railway developed for intercity transport. The 50 km per hour (km/h) speed record achieved by the steam-powered “Rocket” locomotive in 1830 represented a truly high speed for its time. Soon, with the changes in technology, passenger rail travel would see tremendous upgrades in speed. The German diesel trains achieved 215 km/h in 1939 and the French electric-powered Train à Grande Vitesse (TGV) holds the current record on steel rails at 574 km/h (set in 2007)...	ADB
	Asian Development Review, Vol. 37, No. 1, 2020 (Full Report): This edition discusses current economic, environmental, and development issues in Asia such as poverty, migration, and financial spillovers. It features research studies in Pakistan, the People's Republic of China, Thailand, and Viet Nam. Studies presented in this edition also provide data and information about trends in seasonal poverty and seasonal migration across Asia as well as analyses of financial spillovers between emerging Asia and advanced economies across regions.safe working environment in Viet Nam's manufacturing firms. Seasonal Poverty and Seasonal Migration in Asia Wage Differential between Rural Migrant and Urban Workers in the People’s Republic of China Household Debt and Delinquency over the Life Cycle Financial Spillovers in Asian Emerging Economies Green Trade Pattern and the Transboundary Transmission of Greenhouse Gas Emissions The Effects of Formalization on Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Tax Payments: Panel Evidence from Viet Nam Measuring the Ecological Efficiency of Thermal Power Plants: Evidence from Pakistan Understanding Households' Choice of Cooking Fuels: Evidence from Urban Households in Pakistan	ADB
	Latest ADB Working Paper Series: Determinants of Peer-to-Peer Lending Expansion: The Roles of Financial Development and Financial Literacy, March 2020 Bank Efficiency and the Bond Markets, March 2020 Taking Education to the Next Level: What Can Be Learned from Benchmarking Education across Economies? March 2020	ADB
	Latest ADBI Working Paper Series: The European Union’s Role in Regional, Social, and Economic Integration, March 2020 An Empirical Analysis of Factors Responsible for the Use of Capital Market Instruments in Infrastructure Project Finance, March 2020 FinTech, Financial Literacy, and Consumer Saving and Borrowing: The Case of Thailand, March 2020 The Role of Central Banks in Scaling Up Sustainable Finance: What Do Monetary Authorities in Asia and the Pacific Think? March 2020 Building Financial Resilience through Financial and Digital Literacy in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, March 2020 Financial Literacy and Poverty Reduction: The Case of Indonesia, March 2020 Does Renewable Energy Increase Farmers’ Well-being? Evidence from Solar Irrigation Interventions in Bangladesh, March 2020 Financial Literacy and Fintech Adoption in Japan, March 2020 Persistent Current Account Imbalances: Are they Good or Bad for Regional and Global Growth? March 2020 Do Women Benefit from FDI? FDI and Labor Market Outcomes in Cambodia, March 2020 Economic Burden of Neurological Disorders in an Aging Society (Japan): A Panel Data Analysis, March 2020 Returns to Education of Manufacturing Workers: Evidence from the People’s Republic of China Employer–Employee Survey, March 2020 Regional Institutions in Europe and Southeast Asia: Lessons for Economic Integration in South Asia, March 2020 Time-Varying Interactions between Geopolitical Risks and Renewable Energy Consumption, March 2020 Measuring the Effect of Environmental, Social, and Governance on Sovereign Funding Costs, March 2020 Digital Economy for ASEAN Economic Integration, March 2020 The Energy–Pollution–Health Nexus: A Panel Data Analysis of Low- and Middle-Income Asian Nations, March 2020 Energy Insecurity and Renewable Energy Policy: Comparison between the People’s Republic of China and Japan, March 2020 Analyzing the Factors Influencing the Demand and Supply of Solar Modules in Japan, March 2020 Sustainable Finance in Japan, February 2020 Revisiting Development of the Green Bond Market: Evidence of the AHP Approach, March 2020	ADB
	Journal of Bhutan Studies, Volume 40, Summer 2019	Bhutan

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