Asia's Developing Future

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...

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 busines...

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,...

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=BKnJS...

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://...

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 countr...

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&...