Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana As the leaders of Asia and the Pacific prepare to head to Glasgow for the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), they can be sure that our region will be in the spotlight: many of the most vulnerable countries to the impacts of climate change are located here; […]
Trade costs on the rise in Asia and the Pacific, but cuts in red tape could help bend the trend
The high cost of trade in Asia and the Pacific continues to rise, but ongoing efforts to facilitate commerce will help keep goods flowing throughout the region, according to a new report by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Economies in the […]
Resilience in a riskier world
Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana Over the past two decades, the Asia-Pacific region has made remarkable progress in managing disaster risk. But countries can never let down their guard. The COVID-19 pandemic, with its epicentre now in Asia, and all its tragic consequences, has exposed the frailties of human societies in the face of powerful natural forces. […]
ESCAP launches online tool to help countries visualize and analyze trade integration
The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) today launched the RIVA value chain analyzer, a new online platform to support policymakers, analysts and researchers who want to understand how well integrated countries are in global value chains. Through RIVA, the Regional Integration and Value Chain Analyzer, policy analysts from […]
Universal civil registration and vital statistics are critical for truth, trust and COVID recovery in Asia and the Pacific
Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, Kanni Wignaraja, Omar Abdi With health systems at a breaking point, hospitals at capacity and desperate family members searching for oxygen for loved ones, the devastating second wave of COVID-19 that has swept across South Asia has felt ¬surreal. Official figures have indicated record-breaking daily coronavirus cases and deaths, not only in […]
UN ESCAP REPORT ‘BEYOND THE PANDEMIC’ LAUNCHED
Bangkok – Broadening social protection, investing in a sustained recovery, keeping goods and information flowing, and protecting environmental health will be key to emerging stronger from the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a flagship report released by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) today. The theme study for the […]
COVID19 a wake-up call to address development fault lines in Asia and the Pacific
Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific (ESCAP) The world is emerging from the biggest social and economic shock in living memory, but it will be a long time before the deep scars of the COVID-19 pandemic on human well-being fully […]
Sustainable Development Goals can guide Asia-Pacific to build back better
Ms. Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, United Nations-Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific (ESCAP) The COVID-19 crisis poses an unprecedented threat to development in the Asia-Pacific region that could reverse much of the hard-earned progress made in recent years. The good news is we know how to […]
Sustainable energy key to COVID-19 recovery in Asia and the Pacific
Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana The past year is one that few of us will forget. While the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have played out unevenly across Asia and the Pacific, the region has been spared many of the worst effects seen in other parts of the world. The pandemic has reminded us that a reliable […]
“Accelerating Trade Digitalization in Times of the Pandemic”
Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana Tomorrow marks the entry into force of a new international agreement promoting paperless trade, a timely reminder of how the COVID-19 pandemic has brought digital solutions to regional development challenges into the limelight. Paperless trade across borders has proven an effective way to mitigate trade disruptions since the onset of the crisis, […]