Asia's Developing Future

Farms need the right policies, regulations, and institutions backing them. They need access to credit and adequate market infrastructure, support for technology and innovation, and greater opportunities for private sector investment. With these reforms in place, countries will be able to access new markets and meet growing local and overseas demand, which will create jobs and boost incomes of the rural poor. Landlocked economies stand to benefit, thanks to cross-border production sharing and investments. An integrated value chain can make all the players more productive and efficient and contribute to agriculture-driven economic growth. Read the transcript http://bit.ly/2v6NGpG Read the policy brief https://www.adb.org/publications/promoting-agricultural-value-chain-integration-central-asia-and-caucasus Authors Aladdin Rillo, ADBI senior economist https://www.adb.org/adbi/about/staff-profiles/aladdin-rillo Suryo Ariyanto Nugroho, ADBI research associate https://www.adb.org/adbi/about/staff-profiles/suryo-ariyanto-nugroho

Putting savings to work is crucial for Asia’s developing economies. In developing Asia, however, access to credit, savings and payment services remains limited. In 2014, only 36 percent of adults in East Asia and the Pacific had formal savings accounts and only 11 percent had access to formal credit. With more than 600,000 branches worldwide, post offices provide an alternative to rural people to access services that traditional financial institutions cannot provide. So developing postal savings may be good for increasing financial inclusion, reducing poverty and achieving higher economic growth. Read the transcript http://bit.ly/2uYep6O Read the policy brief https://www.adb.org/publications/innovating-financial-inclusion-postal-savings-system-revisited Authors Aladdin Rillo, ADBI senior economist https://www.adb.org/adbi/about/staff-profiles/aladdin-rillo Jeffrey Miyamoto, former ADBI research associate

In a blockchain, each block is “chained” to the previous one in a peer-to-peer data sharing network. We’ve all heard the buzz about the potential applications of blockchain technology. But what’s actually happening in developing countries in Asia and the Pacific? Beyond bitcoin payments and remittances, blockchain exists largely in the pilot stage. Governments and banks are collaborating with technology firms to see if it can be used to solve persistent problems like traceability, identification, and trust. Let’s bring some clarity to the hypotheticals. But first, what exactly is blockchain? It's a type of database that takes records and puts them in a block (akin to, say, a sheet in your Excel file). Each block is then “chained” to the previous block, using a cryptographic signature. This allows blockchains to be used like a ledger, which can be shared and corroborated by anyone with permission. In short, it’s peer-to-peer sharing of data – it does not require a trusted intermediary. Read the blog post https://www.asiapathways-adbi.org/2017/07/blockchain-pilots-making-waves-in-developing-asia/ https://blogs.adb.org/blog/blockchain-pilots-making-waves-developing-asia Authors Alisa DiCaprio, ADBI research fellow https://www.asiapathways-adbi.org/author/alisa-decaprio/ Steven Beck, Asian Development Bank head of trade finance https://www.asiapathways-adbi.org/author/steven-beck/

Post offices can deliver financial services to people who don’t have access to traditional banks. But developing efficient postal finance isn’t easy. Although it can have a powerful presence in an economy, postal finance can also be inefficient and corrupt. Good regulation is important to make sure that it is both effective and accountable. Read the transcript http://bit.ly/2tlooyD Read the policy brief https://www.adb.org/publications/innovating-financial-inclusion-postal-savings-system-revisited Authors Aladdin Rillo https://www.adb.org/adbi/about/staff-profiles/aladdin-rillo Jeffrey Miyamoto

In 2010, Viet Nam launched a public–private partnership project called the Partnership for Sustainable Agriculture, which drew interest from big companies. The partnership successfully established training programs for farmers, which increased their productivity and income, and improved both crop quality and yield. Countries in Central Asia and the Caucasus where farms are inefficient might gain insight from the partnership model used by Viet Nam. Read the transcript http://bit.ly/2t9QMJa Read the policy brief https://www.adb.org/publications/promoting-agricultural-value-chain-integration-central-asia-and-caucasus Authors Aladdin Rillo https://www.adb.org/adbi/about/staff-profiles/aladdin-rillo Suryo Ariyanto Nugroho https://www.adb.org/adbi/about/staff-profiles/suryo-ariyanto-nugroho

The SME Competitiveness Outlook [http://www.intracen.org/SMEOutlook/SMECO2016/] of the International Trade Center helps governments understand the challenges that SMEs face in their quest to either penetrate the export market or expand export shipments. The report contains regional snapshots, which allow governments—as well as managers at SMEs—to zoom in on a specific group of products and markets that are lucrative for SMEs. Read the transcript http://bit.ly/2tPyk7j Watch the full presentation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvOw9efepRE&feature=youtu.be Read ADBI publications on SMEs http://bit.ly/2vfKTqm

Despite remarkable growth in per capita GDP over the past 50 years, poverty remains widespread in Asia, says Haruhiko Kuroda, governor of the Central Bank of Japan and former president of the Asian Development Bank. More must be done to promote growth that benefits everyone, regardless of socioeconomic status or gender, he says. The poor need education and jobs, governments must help small businesses flourish, the poor must learn how to save and how to borrow money through financial institutions rather than moneylenders, and so financial institutions need to improve financial literacy among the poor and be more open to lending against uncertain risk. Mr. Kuroda made these remarks in May at the Global Think Tank Summit in Yokahama, organized by the Asian Development Bank Institute and the Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program of the University of Pennsylvania. Read the transcript http://bit.ly/2tiE4WG Read the whole speech: Toward Inclusive Growth http://www.boj.or.jp/en/announcements/press/koen_2017/ko170502a.htm/ Listen to and watch the whole speech https://youtu.be/PE2J5nlzaQo Know more about the Global Think Tank Summit 2017 https://www.adb.org/news/events/global-think-tank-summit-2017

Naoyuki Yoshino, dean of the Asian Development Bank Institute, told VTC10–NETVIET in Ha Noi, Viet Nam, that small business owners need education to be able to access finance. He also said that even if people in many developing countries such as Viet Nam and Indonesia have money and want to save, there is nowhere they can safely put their money. Changing technology, he said, may hold the solution, and post offices could serve better the needs of remote populations. Read the transcript http://bit.ly/2srCyP5 Watch the whole interview on VTC10–NETVIET http://www.vtc.gov.vn/chitiet/4818-viet-nam-goc-nhin-cua-ban-14-04-2017.html Know more about Naoyuki Yoshino: https://www.adb.org/adbi/about/dean

Negative interest rates will likely remain important, says the University of Rochester’s Professor Narayana Kocherlakota, former president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. But the trick will be to harness low rates to boost consumer expectations and spending. Read the transcript http://bit.ly/2tNP5zZ Watch and listen to the full presentation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKnJS37KbGE&feature=youtu.be&t=2420 Read other ADBI resources ADBI Annual Conference 2016: The Implications of Ultra-Low and Negative Interest Rates for Asia https://www.adb.org/news/events/adbi-annual-conference-2016-implications-ultra-low-and-negative-interest-rates-asia Monetary policy spillovers in emerging Asia By Ansgar Belke, Irina Dubova and Ulrich Volz https://www.asiapathways-adbi.org/2017/05/monetary-policy-spillovers-in-emerging-asia/ Ultra-low interest rates and wandering overinvestment cycles in East Asia By Gunther Schnabl https://www.asiapathways-adbi.org/2017/03/ultra-low-interest-rates-and-wandering-overinvestment-cycles-in-east-asia/

Micro insurance could potentially reach 3 billion people and earn the industry up to $30 billion from insurance premiums. But only about 5% of the total market in Asia, Africa, and Latin America is covered, and only about 20% of micro insurance is being distributed by microfinance institutions globally. Micro insurance must expand globally to meet the needs of the poor. Read the transcript http://bit.ly/2sIvAJV Read the full policy brief https://www.adb.org/publications/financial-inclusion-digital-age Authors Shawn Hunter David Dole https://www.adb.org/adbi/about/staff-profiles/david-dole Valdimir dela Cruz https://www.adb.org/adbi/about/staff-profiles/valdimir-de-la-cruz

Fragility and conflict are interlinked, particularly in states, as conflict is usually the result of fragility reaching a climax, says Patrick Safran, a senior official of the Asian Development Bank when he spoke at ADBI. Training is a key tool to strengthen fragile and conflict-affected states, he says, and women play a particularly important role in helping improve the conditions in these countries. Central and local governments, as well as the civil society organizations, he stresses, must also be involved, and communication campaigns are crucial for stimulating community participation and sense of ownership. Read the transcript http://bit.ly/2tT0Equ To watch the whole presentation, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLHH0AtldTE&t=636s

Standards and regulations for export companies are multiplying, and for a small company the challenge of complying can be daunting. To counter that, the International Trade Center—or ITC—focuses on guiding export-oriented small and medium-sized enterprises or SMEs to export markets. Read the transcript http://bit.ly/2tj6oIG Watch the whole presentation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvOw9efepRE&t=271s