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…

In the Asia-Pacific region, due to urban sprawl and transport infrastructure characteristics, the distance from a location to a public transport node is often longer than the 500m mark to…

As cities in Asia and the Pacific continue to expand, the demand for transport services to accommodate commuters is increasingly challenging. Integration of public transport systems has emerged as a…

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…

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…

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…

Rural women across Asia play a key role producing, processing, and trading agricultural products, and are often the primary users and managers of natural resources. Despite this, discriminatory…

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…

The Asia-Pacific region is experiencing a rapid increase in demand for passenger transport driven by high population and economic growth rates. While the crucial role of transport for economic and…

With a population of around 4.9 billion people, the Asia-Pacific region is home to 63 per cent of the world’s inhabitants. As of 2021, the region accounts for around 37 per cent of global GDP (USD 35…

The impacts of the climate crisis are acutely felt in the Pacific region.  In recent years, the region has been hit by devastating climate events, which cause widespread destruction and…

As countries in Asia and the Pacific build back from the COVID-19 pandemic, they have a unique opportunity to empower women and advance gender equality by putting women at the heart of the recovery…

With COP27 ending last month in Egypt, the world’s attention has been laser-focused on the latest commitments from nation-states for solving humanity’s biggest challenge: climate change.

CO2…

To meet the ambitions of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, we will need a vibrant and innovative private sector able to seize opportunities to solving the problems that hamper progress and…

The recent climate talks in Egypt have left us with a sobering reality: The window for maintaining global warming to 1.5 degrees is closing fast and what is on the table currently is insufficient to…

Asia and the Pacific is the most digitally divided region of the world, and South-East Asia is the most divided subregion. The Covid-19 pandemic detonated a “digital big bang” that spurred people,…

As digital technology continues to unlock new financial opportunities for people across Asia and the Pacific, it is critical that women are central to strategies aimed at harnessing the digital…

At ESCAP’s latest Regional Conversation, Promoting Regional Cooperation for Enhancing Access to Essential Health Products, Dr. Mariângela Simão of the World Health Organization (WHO) gave a telling…