Expert Opinions & Stories

The rapid growth of digitalization has fundamentally altered commerce, impacting production and facilitating the movement of goods. The 2023 Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Report (APTIR), has…

In a world grappling with climate change, innovative solutions are the need of the hour. BillionCarbon, an Indian climate tech start-up founded by siblings Ankita and Nikhil Vijayvergiya, is at the…

For Ou Sokphanna, who lost her leg to a landmine explosion when she was young, opportunities for income generation have always been limited, with widespread discrimination preventing her from…

The development of sustainable and resilient infrastructure is necessary to achieve the development outcomes envisaged by the Sustainable Development Goals, such as access to clean water and energy…

33-year-old Rina Akhtar, hailing from Dhaka, Bangladesh, found herself grappling with adversity when her husband deserted her, leaving her to raise their two daughters alone.

Undeterred by the…

Sustainable Development Goal 3 focuses on ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all at all ages. Age-specific mortality estimates are needed to measure many of those targets, but adult…

The demand for adopting more inclusive value chains in the private sector is apparent on all fronts. Customers are more mindful of their purchases, with extensive access to product information…

Following a casual conversation with a friend who happens to be a blind software engineer, Tran Khanh Dung was enlightened to the multiple obstacles to digital accessibility faced by individuals with…

This year sees a rise in mandatory Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) reporting regulations and requirements, extending to not just listed companies but also non-listed smaller companies. KPMG…

Globally, it is estimated that over 70 per cent of women-owned businesses are either financially underserved or unserved. This gender finance gap deprives women and women-led businesses of crucial…

In the heart of India's agricultural landscape, smallholder farmers, comprising 70 per cent of the sector, face a significant barrier: limited access to formal financial institutions and resources…

Selyn, a women-led handloom business, offers flexible employment and valuable income opportunities to about 1,000 women artisans and persons from marginalized groups in rural Sri Lanka. Selyn…

In the bustling financial hub of Singapore, Rhea See, an early-stage fund manager, leads an accelerator platform dedicated to empowering women in technology. She firmly believes that investing in…

Have you ever tried to register a birth, a death or maybe your own marriage? Unfortunately, many of these vital events in Asia and the Pacific remain unregistered often with dire consequences for…

The potential of e-commerce to drive inclusive development has been debated for decades. As far back as 2002, then-United Nations Secretary-General Kofi A. Annan, in the publication titled E-Commerce…

Gulmira Kuzhagaliyeva, a former senior expert at Qaz-Trade, Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Trade and Integration, has been exploring sustainable methods of food packaging and storage in her work  ̶…

When Lisa Huyen first set up her company, Vinasamex, which specializes in certified organic cinnamon and star anise grown in the mountainous and poorer provinces of Viet Nam, she faced daunting…

Singapore headquartered FinTech company, Boost Capital, uses innovative technology to make it cheaper and easier for unbanked and underbanked entrepreneurs to secure loans, and offers opportunities…

As the world celebrates Pride Month, we are confronted with the enduring reality of persistent inequalities that continue to shape the lives of marginalized communities worldwide. Gender equality, in…

It is undeniable that the world is rapidly approaching a climate change catastrophe. According to the  Climate Change 2023: Synthesis Report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change …