ADB has released the 13th annual performance report of its corporate results framework, the Development Effectiveness Review, a management tool that monitors performance and progress during 2019.

This ADBI–WCTRS webinar will examine land use and transport interactions for inter-regional accessibility enhancements achieved through high-speed rail development.

The ADB Transport Forum on 24-28 August 2020 in Manila, Philippines focuses on solutions for transport in Asia and the Pacific to become more equitable, safer, and resilient in a changing world.

ISLAMABAD: The country witnessed a record rise in Covid-19 cases on Friday, a day before lifting of the nationwide lockdown in phases announced by Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Although the decision to lift the lockdown from Saturday was taken in consultation with all the provinces, Punjab and Sindh on Friday expressed their desire to extend the lockdown restrictions for some more time.

With the addition of 2,000 new cases during the last 24 hours, the total number of infections in the country on Friday stood at 26,954.

Prime Minister Khan, after chairing a meeting of the National Coordination Committee (NCC) on Thursday, announced the lifting of the lockdown by opening several industries, businesses and markets from Saturday (today).

Punjab, Sindh express wish to extend lockdown restrictions; Umar dismisses Murad’s claim about unilateral decisions by Centre; PM reviews economic situation

On Friday, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and Punjab Information Minister Fayyazul Hassan Chohan said they wanted to extend the lockdown but agreed to the Centre’s call at the NCC meeting that the restrictions should be lifted from Saturday.

“It was our desire that the lockdown should be extended, but we agreed to whatever decided at the NCC meeting on Thursday,” CM Shah said at a press briefing.

The PTI-led Punjab government took a step forward and recommended that major cities of the province should remain under lockdown as there was an increasing trend of the viral disease there. “We want continuation of lockdown in eight to 10 cities, including Lahore, Rawalpindi, Multan and Gujranwala,” Mr Chohan said at a press conference.

In a related development, the federal government expressed its surprise and dismay over Sindh chief minister’s remarks that Islamabad was imposing its decision regarding ending the lockdown. Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar, who also heads the National Command and Operation Centre, in a television programme categorically on Friday evening, said that all decisions were made with the approval of the provincial governments. He even said that some of the federal government’s proposals on which there were objections, or difference of opinion, were not included as the government wanted to have complete consensus on the matter.

Prime Minister Khan has urged people to follow the standard operating procedures (SOPs) evolved by the government when the lockdown is lifted, otherwise there will be trajectory of Covid-19 and then the government will have no option but to enforce another lockdown.

The prime minister presided over a meeting on Friday to review the economic situation and its future outlook in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. The finance ministry briefed the meeting on the overall situation and the performance of various macroeconomic indicators during the last nine months of the current financial year, as well as the impact of coronavirus on the economy, an official press release said.

The meeting reviewed the progress and impact of the Rs1.25 trillion economic stimulus package announced by the government to provide relief to the poor and vulnerable segments of society and support various sectors of the economy affected by the pandemic.

The prime minister appreciated the efforts made by the finance ministry to ensure financial discipline and provision of relief during the Coved-19 situation. He emphasised that greater attention should be paid to supporting small and medium enterprises and the agriculture sector, enabling them to create greater job opportunities for people. “The process of reforming public sector organisations should be expedited to plug leakages of the economy,” he added.

The prime minister said the process of provision of subsidies should also be reviewed to make these interventions more effective and target-oriented. “Out of the box solutions are needed to meet the present day economic challenges,” he emphasised.

Reviewing the future economic outlook, Mr Khan said all-out efforts should be made to provide maximum possible relief to the people. He emphasised that priorities and targets for the next Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) should be clearly defined with a focus on completion of projects rather than mere initiation. He stressed the need for maximum utilisation of the public-private partnership model and involving international development partners to enhance and broaden the PSDP scope.

Meanwhile, Special Assistant to the PM on Health Dr Zafar Mirza said the government had signed a memorandum of understanding with the International Organisation of Migration, which helps connect countries with expatriates.

At a press conference, he said the government wanted to develop a networking system with overseas Pakistani doctors in order to learn from their experiences and expertise even after the coronavirus crisis is over.

Published in Dawn, May 9th, 2020

"I felt that they listened to what I was trying to say, and it shows that they do value democracy here in Taiwan."

ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa and Bangladesh Finance Minister and ADB Governor A H M Mustafa Kamal today discussed ADB’s support to Bangladesh in its fight against the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

ADB has approved a $1.5 billion loan to help the Philippine government fund its novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) response program and strengthen the country’s health care system in its fight against the pandemic.

ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa and Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and ADB Governor Makhdoom Khusro Bukhtiar today discussed how ADB can scale up its support for the government’s response to the COVID-19...

ADB today approved a $200 million loan to support the Philippine government’s effort to provide emergency cash subsidies to vulnerable households amid the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

ADB today approved a $1.5 billion loan to the Government of India to help fund its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including support for immediate priorities such as disease containment and prevention, as well as social...

ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa and Nepal Finance Minister and ADB Governor Yuba Raj Khatiwada today discussed ADB’s support to Nepal in its fight against the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

ADB today approved a $100 million loan to support the Government of Bangladesh in its efforts to address the immediate public health requirements of combatting the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

ADB has provided several targeted interventions to support its developing member countries in combating the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic from its early stages. In support of ADB’s effort, the Government of Japan is...

ADB today approved a $20 million loan to support Bhutan’s efforts to stimulate the economy, protect public health, and mitigate the effects of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic on its people.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has provided a guarantee for a $25 million trade loan to the State Pharmaceuticals Corporation of Sri Lanka (SPC) to purchase medical supplies as part of the country’s response to the novel ....

ADB has released the 13th annual performance report of its corporate results framework, the Development Effectiveness Review, a management tool that monitors performance and progress during 2019.

BANGALORE: Online real estate portal CommonFloor has raised $30 million (over Rs180 crore) in its fifth round from existing investor Tiger Global. In January, the Bangalore-based company had raised about Rs 65 crore from Tiger Global and Accel Partners. Sumit Jain, cofounder and chief executive officer of CommonFloor, confirmed the investment. “We will invest in technology, product development, hiring and expanding to at least 22 new cities in the next one year,” he said. While the company did not disclose the valuation it received, Jain said that Common Floor expects to earn a revenue of $25 million in the next one year. “We have grown 100% in terms of revenue […]

The head of Libya’s U.N.-supported government Friday warned of an escalation in the battle for Tripoli after rockets struck near foreign embassies in the capital, drawing sharp condemnation from the European Union and United Nations.

Iran warned Saturday that coronavirus infections were rising in the southwest despite falls in other regions, as it announced more than 1,500 new confirmed cases.

The program aimed to increase the role of women entrepreneurs in economic development and address constraints they and micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) faced. The program had two components—a policy-based loan (PBL) and a financial intermediation loan (FIL) — each at $20.0 million. The program was supported by a technical assistance (TA) capacity building component of $0.6 million.

This guideline specifies framework for validating technical assistance completion reports (TCRs) to capture lessons learned from completed technical assistance (TA) operations and to improve accountability for achieving results, the quality of completion reports, and the independence of project ratings.

Transport systems provide arteries for efficient movement of people and goods in a well-functioning economy. The Asia and Pacific region has witnessed brisk economic growth and social development leading to increased mobility and urbanization. Rapid growth and urbanization creates pressure on transport system and services, which need to keep up not only to sustain the economic growth, but also to ensure much needed equitable access and quality services for all sections of the society.

ADB's support to Asia and the Pacific’s transport sector has helped improve domestic connectivity and economic efficiency in the region, says a report released by ADB’s Independent Evaluation Department.

This report covers the period January to December 2019 and presents the performance for the year against the annual work program and the cumulative performance to date.

By end of 2019, the Urban Financing Partnership Facility (UFPF) assistance has led to a total of 152 completed projects, comprised of investment grants, technical assistance, direct charge activities, and project preparation studies.

The unique challenges of financing and building a climate-resilient port in a tiny Pacific country required ADB to develop and deploy innovative approaches to ensure the project’s design, governance, and monitoring were efficient and effective.

Nimitz Adam, 39, from Boe District, is a mechanic at Nauru’s Aiwo Boat Harbor. Since construction began on Nauru's new port in October 2019, the father of 6 says the people of Nauru are beginning to realize their dream of having an efficient, reliable, and climate-resilient international port. “The new port will be like a lifeline for the people of Nauru.” Nimitz Adam, mechanic at Nauru’s Aiwo Boat Harbor

13 lawyers from our Singapore office have volunteered and been appointed to serve as assessors under temporary COVID-19 legislation. 

Rep. McSally Visits Microchip Executives to Discuss Semiconductor Supply Chain Resilience in the U.S. Amid Defense Industrial Base Report Findings

Microchip Joins Responsible Business Alliance (RBA) – the Global Industry Coalition Dedicated to Corporate Social Responsibility

Message Queuing Telemetry Transport (MQTT)

The unique challenges of financing and building a climate-resilient port in a tiny Pacific country required ADB to develop and deploy innovative approaches to ensure the project’s design, governance, and monitoring were efficient and effective.

KSZ8873MLLJ - Integrated 3-Port 10/100 Managed Switch with PHYs

Approved project 50333-001 in Bangladesh.

Approved project 54061-001 in Sri Lanka.

Approved project 43407-017 in Philippines.

Approved project 42466-018 in Bangladesh.

Approved project 54169-001 in Kyrgyz Republic.

Approved project 54183-001 in Bhutan.

Approved project 54180-001 in Bangladesh.

Privatization has different effects depending on the types of owners to whom it gives control in corporate governance.

This publication provides estimates of purchasing power parities (PPPs) and real expenditures for 22 economies in Asia and the Pacific. These are summary regional results from the 2017 cycle of the International Comparison Program (ICP).

Privatization has different effects depending on the types of owners to whom it gives control in corporate governance.

MUMBAI: Indian real estate market witnessed a significant change in the last decade mainly backed by opening up of FDI in the sector and shift in preference to high-rises over traditional low-rise structures, according to a report. The opening up of the sector to foreign direct investment in 2005 initiated the entry of new avenues for funding, and capital inflow witnessed a spike, property consultant CBRE said in its report titled ‘Inflection Point: Ten years of organised real estate in India (2005-2014)’. Restrictive legislations till 2004 provided limited scope of funds for the sector. However, opening up of the sector to FDI in 2005 opened up new avenues for investment, […]

BANGALORE: When Sameer Rana was looking for a dream property last month, he was spoilt for options in the real estate market. Yet, the 44-year-old investment banker was not sure whether he had all the information to spend Rs 2 crore on an apartment. “Is the area safe? Are the nearby schools good? Will the builder give possession of the house on time? All such questions plundered my mind and I did not have the time to go through every property myself to decide,” Rana said, adding, “Brokers could not be trusted.” But now online start-ups, including Housing-.com, PropTiger, and CommonFloor, are setting up their own teams, data science labs […]

KOLKATA: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has finally found a plot for setting up its second solid waste disposal ground. The civic body will use an area covering about 20 acres at Rajarhat New Town to develop a ‘waste-to-energy’ converting system that will be an alternative site to the existing Dhapa ground which has become overburdened. The KMC will soon sign an MoU with the Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (Hidco) for this project. “We will sign a MOU with the KMC authorities. The KMC will develop the project on Action Area III. It will be a compact solid waste disposal ground from where energy generation will be done. The solid […]

HOWRAH: With an eye on boosting revenue, the Howrah Municipal Corporation announced a partial waiver for property and commercial tax on Tuesday. Under the waiver scheme, no penalty or interest need to be paid. The KMC has already enforced such a scheme and has benefited greatly, said Howrah mayor Rathin Chakraborty. He said the last board, controlled by the Left Front, bungled in tax collection, resulting in tax default of around Rs 200 crore. “The state is supporting us, but we must be self-sufficient. The tax outstanding will be collected without burdening civilians,” the mayor added. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/Howrah-Municipal-Corporation-announces-partial-waiver-of-property-and-commercial-tax/articleshow/31431111.cms