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This report assesses how to finance an extensive overhaul of transport infrastructure in the BIMSTEC subregion, considers the challenges of public and private financing, and outlines how to create an overarching financial framework. Underscoring why strong transport connectivity is critical to regional integration, the report highlights how economic and financial analyses can help fund key economic corridors and transport projects in Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. It analyzes a plan for over 200 projects and sets out ways to boost public-private partnerships, develop capital markets, and establish a regional fund to help close the financing gap.

This road map shows how Bangladesh can swap diesel irrigation pumps for solar powered systems to reduce fuel imports, increase farmers' incomes, and support the country's clean energy transition.

To bolster economic and financial analyses through national account statistics, this publication presents a model developed by ADB to provide a more consistent measure of non-recoverable VAT on products.Highlighting application results in Armenia, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan, the publication explains how the model can be used in balancing and reconciling supply and use tables as well as to assess VAT gaps. It shows that the model is relatively simple to apply and its consistency with the supply and use system makes it an attractive tool for policymakers.

This publication introduces the Global Integration Index as a tool to explore how global and regional integration affect development outcomes.The 43 indicators in the index include digital connectivity and environmental cooperation and build on the Asian Development Bank's framework to measure progress in regional cooperation and integration. The index confirms deeper global economic linkages in Asia and the Pacific and enables comparison with other regions and across dimensions. The publication considers how policymakers can combine global and regional integration efforts with domestic policies for sustainable and inclusive economic growth.

Examining how the livelihoods, health, and well-being of women in Central and West Asia were disproportionately affected by the pandemic, this report assesses responses and considers how the experience can guide gender mainstreaming. Emphasizing the need for better granular data, the report looks at intersecting vulnerabilities and at how policies that prioritize women's economic security and strengthen social protection can better insulate them against future shocks.

ADB's South Asia Department conducted a study to assess the status and responses to the needs of disadvantaged groups in its member countries and identify entry points for greater gender equality and social inclusion impacts in its operations.This publication presents the results, providing an analysis of nine dimensions of exclusion and vulnerability- gender inequality; old age, disability, social identity, diverse sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sex characteristics; geographic location; income poverty; young age; and migrant status-and how these dimensions overlap in the lives of people with intersecting disadvantaged identities. Drawing from the good practices of governments, civil society organizations, and ADB-financed projects in South Asia, the publication provides SARD a 10-point guide for designing and operationalizing programs for gender equality and social inclusion.

This guidance note provides an overview of methods for evaluating the gender equality and social inclusion impacts of ADB programs and projects in South Asia.This guidance note aims to impart knowledge of vital points to consider when preparing impact evaluations. It outlines key steps for ADB staff, consultants, and project executing and implementing agencies involved in conducting impact evaluations. Additionally, the note explores modalities to assess the effectiveness of project interventions and gathers perspectives from project beneficiaries.

This guidance note aims to enhance the quality of poverty and social analysis for the design of country partnership strategies and programs in South Asia.The guidance note outlines approaches for conducting Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) analysis at the country, sector, and project levels to determine the GESI elements within ADB's country partnership strategies and projects in South Asia. It emphasizes the need to enhance the analysis of intersectional dimensions of exclusion and vulnerability experienced by individuals with intersecting disadvantaged identities.

Analyzing why only one-in-five of Viet Nam's small businesses are women-owned, this publication outlines the major legal, financial, and societal hurdles they face and explores ways to raise awareness and better support women entrepreneurs in the fast-growing economy. The publication explains the challenges women business owners face in getting access to the credit they need and assesses ways to better direct finance and training. It shows how creating an enabling environment, developing gender disaggregated databases, and targeting support to women-owned businesses can promote gender equality, cut poverty, and drive inclusive growth.

Quality and sustainable infrastructure investments are needed to rebuild smartly and create a more resilient, inclusive, and equitable world. Digital transformation has become an urgent need for governments.This publication presents the SOURCE platform, a digital transformation tool that is financed and led by multilateral development banks. SOURCE is a key tool for governments to prepare well-developed projects in alignment with international standards such as the G20 Principles for Quality Infrastructure Investment. SOURCE can be integral to capacity building for best practices in project management, for building infrastructure databases for measuring achievements, and for raising bankability and attracting private sector financing of projects contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement.

This note is intended to guide the Asian Development Bank, executing and implementing agencies, consultants, and contractors in setting up, adapting, and managing grievance redness mechanisms assigned to receive reports on sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment in ADB-financed projects with civil works. The proposed reporting mechanisms and case handling processes in this publication are based on good practices by international development agencies and multilateral development banks. This good practice note may be used independently but is better understood when read together with the Good Practice Note on Addressing Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment in ADB- Financed Projects with Civil Works.

Underlining why gender equality is a core component of sustainable infrastructure design, this report considers four key ADB investment sectors in Asia and the Pacific and sets out ways to evaluate gender-enhanced project outcomes. The report outlines theories of change and indicators designed to enable gender-inclusive infrastructure investment in urban development, transport, energy, and water, sanitation, and hygiene. Designed to serve as a point of reference, it shows how better including the needs of women, increasing their role in decision-making, and raising stakeholder understanding can help deliver projects that work for everyone.

This technical report assesses the string of events that triggered Nepal's Melamchi River floods in 2021 and highlights threats to the catchment area that provides vital drinking water to Kathmandu's fast-growing population. The report explains how floods damaged key water supply infrastructure and analyses risks posed by earthquakes, glacial lakes, and landslides, as climate change complicates conditions in the fragile Himalayas. It shows why a comprehensive catchment strategy centered on disaster risk reduction and early warning systems, plus measures to stabilize the river and control erosion, can help protect Melamchi's critical infrastructure from future events and boost the capital's water security.

Indonesia's micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) are crucial drivers of economic growth, and this joint publication with Gojek looks at the potential of digital sales to strengthen their resilience. It shares findings from a study of MSME merchants using Gojek's GoFood platform during the COVID-19 pandemic. It notes that Gojek played an important role in the continued operation of MSMEs that otherwise would have been cut off from customers. The publication explores the pandemic's impacts on merchants, including the particular burdens faced by women. It suggests ways of enhancing merchants' experience with online platforms and developing mutual benefits.

Examines the current state of carbon markets, delves into legal and policy issues, and explains how they can help countries hit their Paris Agreement targets. Shares insights on how high-integrity carbon markets can underpin the transition towards a low-carbon economy as countries transition towards net zero.

Detailing how Australia's Therapeutics Goods Administration conducted horizon scanning for new vaccines during the pandemic to assist ADB, this report is designed to help countries in Asia and the Pacific prepare for future outbreaks.It provides details of 16 vaccine manufacturers with novel and established vaccine technologies adapted to new pathogens like SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Offering information on their vaccine pipeline and partnerships, the report shows their approach to working with ADB's developing member countries and can be used to inform decisions related to vaccine manufacturing and procurement.

This publication explores how data from ships' Automatic Identification System (AIS) can be used to produce near real-time, granular statistics for analyzing maritime activities and detecting disruptions to port operations. Recent global supply chain disruptions have underscored the need for more timely and accurate data. This publication shows how indicators from AIS data can be used to supplement official statistics. Highlighting how AIS data can swiftly capture the impact of events on major ports and maritime highways, it outlines a framework to leverage this data and support a broader understanding of maritime activities from major hubs and cases of disruptions.

Introducing a data-driven framework aimed at closing the digital education gap, this report assesses 10 developing member countries and illuminates how a multi-stakeholder, systemic approach-including engagement with the private sector-can enhance the delivery of digital education.Utilizing five overarching categories of the framework-infrastructure, government policy, educators, students, and service providers-as lenses to examine each country's unique landscape, the report identifies tailored pathways for incremental and staged development. The report envisages adopting sustainable, scalable solutions that contribute to a more cohesive and inclusive digital education ecosystem.

This publication provides updated statistics on a comprehensive set of economic, financial, social, and environmental measures as well as select indicators for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The report covers the 49 regional members of ADB. It discusses trends in development progress and the challenges to achieving inclusive and sustainable economic growth across Asia and the Pacific. This 54th edition of Key Indicators examines how the increased cost-of-living crisis combined with the lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are pushing millions of people in Asia and the Pacific deeper into poverty. The report identifies the need for more galvanized efforts to ensure poor people are able to cope with inflationary pressures and ongoing economic uncertainties.

This publication provides a case study of how digital tools can help optimize road design to strengthen climate resilience, safety, and efficient resource use.It explains how virtual models can be used to simulate and analyze the effects of potential design choices and future scenarios such as climatic conditions. It shows how greater use of data and digital solutions can help build greener, more durable transport infrastructure and bolster safety. The case study was developed in collaboration with ORIS as part of a project to upgrade a section of the A380 Highway in Uzbekistan.

This guidance note shares insights on economic corridor development as an area-based approach and explores how to facilitate these multisector programs. It will be relevant to government officials, development partners, the private sector, and academia in formulating, implementing, and assessing economic corridors.

This edition shows how a modest improvement in economic fundamentals has buoyed East Asia's local currency bond (LCY) markets, but potential renewed increases in inflation and further interest rate hikes could pose risks for the region's borrowers.Covering the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the People's Republic of China, Hong Kong, China, and the Republic of Korea, the report notes that positive investment sentiment supported a narrowing of risk premiums, a rally in equity markets, and net foreign portfolio inflows. However, interest rates in the region remained elevated, partly due to a rise in bond yields in major advanced economies. Higher borrowing costs have contributed to debt stress and bond defaults in some markets in the region over the past few months.

Providing high-level climate risk assessments for cities in Armenia, Georgia, and Uzbekistan, this report is designed to mainstream mitigation and adaptation into urban planning to help ensure climate resilient growth. For each country, it harnesses climate data, models, and projections. It offers a range of scenarios, assesses potential risks to key infrastructure, and sets out ways to combat the impacts of events such as increasingly severe floods and heatwaves. Targeted at focal agencies, ADB project teams, and development practitioners, it proposes urban planning and policy measures that can help each of the countries reach their ambitious climate commitments.

This publication analyzes the evolution of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC) in Asia and the Pacific, assesses their potential risks and technical challenges, and shows their potential to improve cross-border payments and financial inclusion.Ahead of the launch of any large-scale Asian CBDC, it details various models and explores how Cambodia, the People's Republic of China, Singapore, and Thailand are taking the lead. Outlining global developments and emerging trends, it shows why a robust digital infrastructure, strong public-private collaboration, and fintech literacy are central to ensuring CBDCs help drive the transition to a digital economy.

This report assesses climate finance in Asia and the Pacific and analyzes how it can be harnessed by developing member countries to expand climate action and spur low-carbon, resilient growth. Designed to help governments and development partners identify and address barriers, it offers a subregional breakdown and underscores the need for equitable access to funds to help countries meet their climate targets. It assesses financing gaps, considers how to increase investment, and outlines ways to scale up climate finance so that it reaches the countries and sectors that need it most.

Outlines how sector agencies in South Asia can develop gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) strategies, highlights their key elements, and shows how to effectively integrate them into projects and policies. Offers tips on how to adopt participatory processes to help develop and implement inclusive frameworks.

This edition presents recent developments in emerging East Asian local currency bond markets and features a special section about how increased climate risk awareness can influence investors' trading decisions.Bond yields in emerging East Asia declined from March to May amid easing inflationary pressures in the region and slower monetary tightening in the United States. The region's local currency bond stock grew 9.1% from a year earlier to $23.8 trillion at the end of March. The increase was largely driven by governments frontloading debt issuance to finance programs to support economic recovery. Corporate bond issuance remained moderate, partly due to higher interest rates.

Pacific economies are bouncing back as tourism recovers and infrastructure projects resume, but inflationary pressures and vulnerability to natural hazards remain downside risks.This edition of the Pacific Economic Monitor tracks the rebound of some tourism-dependent economies; explores new opportunities from agriculture, digitalization, and fisheries; and analyzes ways to mitigate fiscal risks and support sustainable economic growth. It highlights how policies can better support women entrepreneurs and how strengthening fiscal reserves can help countries recover more quickly from shocks.

This Energy Sector Directional Guide provides the strategic direction of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for the energy sector.This sector guide describes the context and rationale that will guide ADB's agenda in supporting developing member countries (DMCs) with financing, knowledge, convening ability, and technical assistance (TA) to ensure improved coherence, relevance, efficiency, and effectiveness of ADB's energy sector investments. The guide also outlines the priorities and focus for the energy sector in line with Strategy 2030.This sector guide is designed to be a living document, to be updated as needed to remain relevant to the dynamic development context of Asia and the Pacific. A midterm review is to be conducted following the expected review of the Energy Policy in 2025.This guide is volume 2 in the seven-volume collection, Strategy 2030 Sector Directional Guides.

Analyzing the potential of carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) to secure a low-carbon environment for Asia and the Pacific, this Asian Development Bank (ADB) compendium features 11 CCUS technologies and tools.As ADB strives to facilitate this low-carbon future for the region within the next half of this century, the compendium explores how CCUS can enhance sustainable energy security and compliance with international commitments, while decarbonizing industries-without substantial disruptions to existing operations. Featuring technical, economic, and financial insights into pioneering technologies, the publication encourages collaborations between ADB members and stakeholders to nurture such urgently required innovations.