Suchergebnisse

The country operations business plan (COBP) presents the indicative program for support of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to Timor-Leste for 2020–2022. Implementation of ADB's country partnership strategy (CPS), 2016–2020 for Timor-Leste has progressed slowly due to Presidential and Parliamentary elections in 2017 and 2018. Staff assessment is that the CPS remains highly relevant to address the development priorities of Timor-Leste. The Government of Timor-Leste concurs with the assessment and has agreed to conduct a CPS mid-term review in 2020 with a view to extending CPS implementation to 2022. The findings and recommendations from the assessment will be reported in the COBP for 2021–2023 that will be circulated to the Board in 2020. COBP, 2020–2022 is consistent with the CPS and aligned with ADB Strategy 2030 operational priorities; the Program of the Eighth Constitutional Government of Timor-Leste, 2018–2023; and Timor-Leste's Strategic Development Plan, 2011–2030. COBP, 2020–2022 will help Timor-Leste build human capital, diversify its economy, and achieve sustainable and inclusive growth. The agriculture sector has been added to ADB assistance areas as agreed with the government (Appendix 1). Particular emphasis is given to the Strategy 2030 operational priorities of addressing remaining poverty and reducing inequalities, accelerating progress in gender equality, making cities more livable, strengthening governance and institutional capacity, and promoting regional cooperation and integration. Developing a sustainable non-oil economy is a key challenge for Timor-Leste. The Program of the Eighth Constitutional Government presents an ambitious plan to improve service delivery and accelerate economic development. Implementing this plan will require well targeted investments in infrastructure and human capital development and substantive policy reforms. The indicative pipelines of investment projects, technical assistance (TA), and knowledge activities will support the achievement of these goals. The indicative lending program includes investments to develop human capital, improve delivery of basic services, strengthen market linkages, and stimulate productive activities. The nonlending program will support the preparation of high-quality investment projects and help Timor-Leste with key thematic priorities, such as governance, capacity development, and regional cooperation and integration.

The country operations business plan (COBP), 2020–2022 for Viet Nam of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) remains consistent with the priorities of the country's Socio-Economic Development Plan, 2016–2020 and ADB's support to its implementation under the country partnership strategy (CPS), 2016–2020. The CPS aims at fostering more inclusive and environmentally sustainable growth through promoting job creation and competitiveness, increasing inclusive infrastructure and service delivery, and improving environmental sustainability and climate change resilience. The CPS priorities remain valid until a new CPS is prepared. This COBP also (i) incorporates relevant elements of ADB's Strategy 2030;2 and (ii) takes into account the recent increase in public debt3 and the government's response by imposing stricter conditions for the use of official development assistance. As of 31 December 2018, the active Viet Nam lending portfolio comprised 62 loans totaling $7.58 billion, with a net effective amount of $7.04 billion. Cumulative contract awards totaled $4.18 billion and cumulative disbursements $3.29 billion. The active portfolio consists of loans in transport (49.7%); water and other urban infrastructure and services (14.0%); agriculture, natural resources, and rural development (11.3%); energy (8.6%); education (8.6%), finance and public sector management (3.6%); health and social protection (3.6%); and industry and trade (0.6%).

Bhutan's country partnership strategy (CPS), 2014–2018 aimed to support the country as it transitioned to middle-income status. The country program of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) over the CPS period sought to contribute to economic growth, expand connectivity infrastructure, and address the quality of life in rapidly growing urban centers. Its focus on energy, transport, and urban development exhibited continuity with earlier CPS programs. The validation considered the program successful on the borderline. The program was relevant to the country's development needs and government priorities. It was effective in delivering outputs and key outcomes. Frequent delays experienced in the design, preparation, and implementation of operations resulted in a less than efficient program. The validation notes considerable risks to the program's sustainability, which is assessed less than likely. The overall development impact of the CPS is nevertheless assessed satisfactory, as the program made significant contributions to Bhutan's development outcomes. The report makes five recommendations in anticipation of the new CPS, 2019–2023: (i) develop a well articulated strategy to support the country's economic diversification objectives; (ii) provide continued support in finance and public sector management, based on expressed demand, to extend the governance reforms already under way; (iii) intensify analytical work on the anticipated social stresses that a skewed economic growth will present; (iv) undertake a local government sector assessment; and (v) accelerate the establishment of a fully functioning resident mission in Bhutan.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) country partnership strategy (CPS), 2013–2017 for Nepal aimed to accelerate sustainable and inclusive economic growth. To meet this objective, ADB provided sovereign financing (including cofinancing) in the form of loans, grants, and technical assistance totaling $2,542.71 million from 2013–2018. This validation considers the program successful on the borderline. The CPS was relevant to the sustainable and inclusive growth objective of the government, although the program was less responsive to the country's transition to federalism since ADB did not adjust existing and planned projects quickly enough. ADB operations are yielding outputs and some outcomes in key areas, particularly urban infrastructure, school reconstruction after the earthquakes, energy, and agriculture and/or rural development. Little progress was made in private sector development. Allowing for differences in various sector programs and after weighing their size, the program is on balance effective, although on the margin. Some sovereign flagship projects in water provision, energy, and transportation are well behind schedule, raising reputational risk to the government and ADB. Slow progress on institutional development against the country's ambitious federalization goal, some poor results, and delays in many projects account for the validation's rating of the program as less than efficient. The government struggles to achieve reforms and institutional arrangements that ensure the sustainability of project results, making the program less than likely sustainable. The development impacts are nevertheless satisfactory, in the expectation that delayed flagship projects will be concluded soon. This report makes five recommendations: (i) engage more intensively on institutional development and governance reform, and match project scale and complexity with emerging capacities in government; (ii) ensure that ongoing and new operations take due consideration of the emerging federal system of government and provide strategic support to key intergovernmental subsystems to facilitate the transition; (iii) clarify in the next CPS ADB's position in the broad effort to support inclusive economic growth, indicating the specific contributions of key sector programs, and the Strategy 2030 priorities; (iv) make a strong effort to attract grant cofinancing and focus on capacity development; and (v) build resident mission capacity to ensure it plays a meaningful role in project processing, implementation, and policy dialogue.

In the following sections I shall discuss the gradual evolution of political parties over the last half a century focusing primarily on Bangladesh. The discussion will begin with a broad overview of political parties highlighting the changing party systems and key features of political parties. I shall then centre my discussion on the roles of political parties, in mobilizing people for social and political movements as well as for participating in electoral politics which is geared towards capturing state power. The final section analyses the role of political parties in promoting democracy. I explore these roles because they are the most visible, discussed, and debated roles of parties in Bangladesh. The involvement of political parties in movement politics on the one hand and electoral politics on the other has left deep and sometimes contradictory imprints on the character of political parties. I shall highlight some of the key features of parties which originate from their involvement in movement politics as well as in electoral politics. In the final section I try to sum up how parties have performed in promoting democracy within their our organizations and outside in the country as a whole.

Conducting analysis of labor market supply and demand is an essential step towards the reduction of unemployment. Having an informed understanding of what type of education, skills, and experience are demanded by the market can prepare job-seekers better to access employment, as well as entrepreneurial and educational opportunities. The study aims to map and analyze the private sector in Tbilisi, Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti region (Senaki, Zugdidi, Tsalenjikha, and Poti municipalities) and Kvemo Kartli region (Marneuli municipality). The assessment methodology entailed a combination of desk research and qualitative study. During the desk research, the size of the market in each of the target regions was studied and, by using the economic potential component of the Smart Specialization methodology, a private sector assessment was conducted. Smart Specialization1 is an approach that has been elaborated by the European Union (EU), and is widely used when analyzing national and regional competitiveness.

A new innovation hub launched in Singapore during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent visit will facilitate collaboration between Indian and Singapore enterprises by being a bridge in their start-up landscape.

If we define corruption as the abuse of entrusted power for private gain, corruption has been around us for as long as human society has existed. The fight against corruption has been declared a high priority in many governments and international organizations, such as the UN and the OECD. Nevertheless, corruption is continuously spreading and evolving, thus making it much more complex to detect and prevent. The World Bank estimated that US $1.5 trillion, equivalent to 2% of global GDP, is paid in bribes each year. While the term corruption may conjure up the image of offering and receiving bribes, it actually has a much broader scope. Furthermore, corruption is directly linked to various social crimes including tax fraud, money laundering, embezzlement and anti-competitive conduct. As a consequence, corruption erodes public confidence, then destroys essential socio-economic elements needed for the development of an ethical, fair and transparent society. Although it is not easy to convert the causal relationship between corruption and economic development into numerical terms, we could make a rough guess that the negative impact of corruption that diverts resources from the poor to the rich could surpass at least a multiple of the estimate released by the World Bank.

Capital is the central power institution of capitalism: it is the main force underlying the relentless transformation of power relations in capitalist societies. The course explores the accumulation of capital from three interrelated perspectives: conceptual, historical and empirical. At the conceptual level, the course examines the evolution of different orthodox and critical theories of value and how these theories serve to explain and justify contending notions of accumulation. At the historical level, it traces the development of capital from its humble pre-capitalist origins to its present world dominance. At the empirical level, it studies and juxtaposes the qualitative and quantitative aspects of capital accumulation and study what they mean for the contemporary political economy. In parallel to these explorations, the course introduces students to the art and science of empirical research. By the end of the course, students are expected to be able to develop and integrate theoretical arguments with their own empirical work.

Infrastructure is essential for development. This publication presents the highlights of a report on the current condition of developing Asia's infrastructure—defined here as transport, power, telecommunications, and water supply and sanitation. The report itself examines how much the region has been investing in infrastructure and what will likely be needed through 2030. Finally, the report analyzes the financial and institutional challenges that will shape future infrastructure investment and development.

This volume is part of the commemorative publication, ASEAN@50: Retrospectives and Perspectives on the Making, Substance, Significance, and Future of ASEAN. Volume 4 provides insights, perspectives, and reflections of eminent persons and experts on issues of significance to the success of building the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Political–Security Community (APSC) and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC) and ASEAN moving forward. The volume is a collection of essays specifically written for it together with the integrative chapters of the author–editors.