In recent years the Asia-Pacific region, along with the rest of the world, has been assailed by a series of global crises, first the energy and food crises, and more recently the financial and economic crisis – all of which have presented threats to development and to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This report assesses the likely impact. First it tracks progress towards the Goals on the basis of data collected prior to the economic crisis on 21 out of the 60 official MDG indicators. Then it considers how this progress might be hindered by recent events.
Family structure, functions and values are experiencing unprecedented changes in Asia and the Pacific. However, there is often an absence of a family perspective in social policymaking in general and in social protection policymaking in particular.
This e-book brings together chapters that explore various aspects of trade and financial integration in Asia and the Pacific, the reasons for the lack of it, and potential benefits of strengthening such integration. The book focuses on the exploration of challenges and opportunities that exist in intraregional trade in goods, integration in services trade, availability of trade finance as well as inflows of portfolio investments.
Policymakers in the region are more aware than ever of the economic, social, health and environmental benefits of adequate sanitation. Various efforts have been made to raise the political profile of sanitation, through a United Nations General Assembly resolution (No. 61/192) that declared 2008the International Year of Sanitation, regional high-level sanitation conferences (SACOSAN and EASAN) and close monitoring of the related Millennium Development Goal targets.
In September 1970, Nobel laureate economist Milton Friedman ignited a serious controversy with his New York Times article “The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profits.” His main argument is summarised as follows: “there is one and only one social responsibility of business – to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game …” While one might agree with him that a primary purpose of business is about making a profit without violation of laws and regulations, this argument is unlikely to remai
The Asia-Pacific Development Journal (APDJ) is published twice a year by the Macroeconomic Policy and Development Division of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).
The primary objective of the APDJ is to provide a platform for the exchange of knowledge, experience, ideas, information and data on all aspects of economic and social development issues and concerns facing the region and to stimulate policy debate and assist in the formulation of policy.
Over the past few years, energy security and sustainable development have moved up the global agenda. There are two main reasons for this: first, the impact of high and often volatile energy prices; second, concerns over environmental sustainability and particularly about the global climate. Both issues are critically important for Asia and the Pacific—a region in which impressive economic growth has boosted the demand for energy and put corresponding strains on the environment.
After the fastest growth in a decade in 2007, the developing economies of the Asia-Pacific region are expected to grow at a slightly slower but still robust 7.7% in 2008. The region’s developed economies are expected to grow at 1.6% in 2008, slipping from 2% in 2007. China and India, the region’s economic locomotives, are expected to continue growing briskly in 2008, boosting the rest of the region. Commodity- and energy-exporting countries, particularly the Russian Federation, are expected to add to the momentum.
