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Asia and the Pacific face a growing transport infrastructure gap amid urbanization, disaster risks, and rapid digitalization. Strategic investments in leadership, governance, innovation, and inclusion can help build resilient, inclusive, and sustainable transport systems.

Strategic investment in resilient, multimodal transport—spanning highways, heavy rail, ports, and airports—offers the region rapid gains in competitiveness and inclusive growth.

Shipping disruptions drive higher costs, inflate prices, and challenge decarbonization goals, particularly in vulnerable economies. With Asia and the Pacific at the center of global trade, addressing these challenges requires innovative strategies from low-carbon fuels to green port infrastructure.

Enhancing multimodal transport, standardization, and digital integration can improve efficiency, reduce costs, and strengthen manufacturing in India, Bangladesh, and Nepal’s logistics sectors.

Unanticipated debt increases hinder growth and drive inflation in emerging markets. Fiscal frameworks and buffers, consolidation strategies, and coordinated policies can mitigate these challenges and bolster resilience.

Overcoming poor market depth and liquidity is crucial for Asia's capital markets to grow and remain attractive to investors. A coordinated approach addressing regulatory frameworks, market infrastructure, and risk management is essential for building resilient, diverse, and efficient markets.

The global impact of US monetary policy significantly affects capital flows and credit growth in emerging markets, highlighting the importance of macroeconomic fundamentals and institutional quality in determining resilience during different monetary cycles.

These charts illustrate how local currency bond markets can be a powerful tool to stabilize currencies and economies during crises such as the pandemic and global shocks.

The right actions by microfinance institutions and governments can ensure a promising outlook for microfinance in Asia this year.

Though there are many similarities between tech startups and other small businesses, they need to be treated differently from a policy and regulatory standpoint.

Enrollment has improved greatly in Pakistan in recent decades but quality and equity still needs to be addressed. Partnering with private companies could speed the process.

Developing economies in Asia have for years relied on partnerships with the private sector to pay for infrastructure projects. That could be in jeopardy during the pandemic.

Efficient infrastructure, clean energy integration, and smarter user habits offer a path to decouple digital growth from rising emissions.

Kelly Hewitt, an ADB Principal Energy Specialist with more than 25 years of experience in gas market regulation and reform, energy efficiency, climate mitigation, and renewable energy, defines key terms related to battery storage for renewable energy.

Training a single AI model can emit as much greenhouse gas as burning 300,000 pounds of coal, underscoring the need for ‘Green AI.’ This approach includes adopting efficiency improvements, regulatory frameworks, and mindful AI deployments to mitigate environmental impact.

Evolving megatrends like demographic shifts, climate change, and technological advances are prompting new thinking around how to unlock labor productivity. Their impacts on labor markets will depend on the policy choices governments make.

Sameer Khatiwada, a Senior Public Management Economist whose research has focused on education, skills development, social protection, and jobs, among other areas, defines key terms related to labor markets and skills development policies.

Companies deploying Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies, and investing in reskilling and upskilling for digital occupations, are likely to recover faster from the impact of the pandemic.

A well-trained workforce is more likely to spur innovation at companies. Firms that provide even minimal training to employees are nearly 8 percentage points more likely to introduce a new product and implement a new process.

Extreme heat has disparate impacts on women's health and broader socio-economic consequences. There is an urgent need for gender-responsive adaptation strategies.

Inclusive sports can empower women with disabilities, and foster accessibility, social integration, and gender equality in the Pacific. Recent Paralympic milestones and policy examples illustrate the ongoing need for supportive infrastructures and greater representation to create equitable opportunities in sports.

Achieving gender equality in national legislatures in Asia and the Pacific is attainable through political will, robust gender quotas, and supportive mentorship programs. These measures, combined with effective use of digital spaces and policies to combat gender-based violence, are crucial for ensuring equal representation.

Women in Asia and the Pacific face significant gender disparities in agrifood systems. Tools and national metrics can help design and evaluate the success of projects aimed at improving gender equality and resource access.