Rapid economic growth in emerging Asia has led to a critical increase of greenhouse gas emissions. Transitioning to renewable energy sources would help reduce emissions. However, massive investment is needed to make that transition. According to this paper, targeted policy interventions are needed to facilitate trade and investment in the renewable energy sector and create “green jobs” in the low-carbon and resource-efficient sectors.

Author: Masato Abe, Candice Lea Marie Branchoux, Jaewon Kim

Year: 2017

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Tags: Bangladesh, Energy, Governance, Hydropower, Employment, India, Myanmar, Sustainability, UNESCAP

As South Asian economies improve, they have the potential to greatly improve their prosperity and livability for the people of the region by improving their state of urbanization. Messy and hidden urbanization that leads to slums and sprawls is the result of failure to address congestion constraints arising from rapid growth of urban populations. This book examines the state of South Asia's urbanization – it reviews gaps in markets and policies that have hindered its proper growth, and discusses key policy areas that must be undertaken, including improvement in housing provisions, infrastructure, and basic services.

Author: Peter Ellis and Mark Roberts

Year: 2016

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Tags: Economic Corridor, Urban Development, Governance, Sustainability, South Asia, Social Services

These contributions from participants of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Chairs Programme—which supports trade-related activities by academic institutions in developing countries—offer insightful research on opportunities that open up for developing countries when trade costs are reduced. Analyzing the potential impact of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement implementation in various developing regions of the world, this publication offers detailed country-level analysis on benefits of trade facilitation, including export diversification, greater global value chain participation, insertion of SMEs into international trade, the attraction of more foreign direct investments, and better governance.

Author: Robert Teh, Maarten Smeets, Mustapha Sadni Jallab and Fatima Chaudhri, editors

Year: 2016

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Tags: Trade Facilitation, Global Value Chains, Small and medium enterprises, FDI, Governance, WTO

Despite South Asian nations experiencing increased foreign direct investment (FDI) flows over the past decade by gaining a large share of cross border investments, FDI inflows in South Asian countries still remain the lowest relative to gross domestic product (GDP) among developing country regions. This paper uses an empirical model that accounts for possible trends in convergence in the ratio of FDI to GDP between countries and cross-sectional data for 78 countries from 2000 to 2011. In examining the historical patterns of South Asia’s FDI and its connection with the policy environment, policymakers can identify constraints to FDI and boost potential for broad-based growth.

Author: David M. Gould, Congyan Tan and Amir S. Sadeghi Emamgholi

Year: 2013

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Tags: South Asia, Trade Policy, FDI, GDP, Investment, Governance, Transparency, Economic Growth, Financial Sector, Regional Cooperation, Trade

This report reviews the provision of high priority regional public goods (RPGs) selected for the South Asia subregion, and proposes areas of cooperation for improving the provisioning of RPGs in South Asia. It highlights the issues in cross border management of infrastructure projects and best practices in the provisioning of RPGs relevant for South Asia, evaluates ADB’s contributions to providing RPGs in the subregion, and concludes with recommendations on ADB’s South Asia Regional Department’s role in the provision of RPGs in the subregion.

Author: Khaja Moinuddin

Year: 2010

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Tags: Energy, Agriculture, Disaster Risk, Governance, Poverty Reduction, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Trade Facilitation, Transport