This report summarizes key results from a 2012 survey of businesses in Papua New Guinea. It compares the results with the 2002 and 2007 surveys and shows that, while the business environment has improved since 2002, doing business in Papua New Guinea remains extremely challenging. Continued...

This economic report on Tonga is the result of a joint project of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Australian Agency for International Development. It is part of ADB’s Pacific Islands Economic Report series, which aims to assist governments in formulating policy by analyzing a...

The Monitor provides an update of developments in Pacific economies and explores topical policy issues.

The Quarterly Economic Update (QEU) provides a comprehensive and updated analysis of the recent economic performance of Sri Lanka. The QEU for July 2012 highlights the expected economic slowdown in 2012. With inflation trending up, monetary tightening is expected to continue for a longer period....

This report investigates urbanization trends across the 14 Pacific developing member countries of the Asian Development Bank. It examines the history of Pacific urbanization, current state of infrastructure and service provision within urban areas, and systems of urban governance. It presents...

Asia is on the rise with increasing significance in the global economy. In parallel, regional cooperation and integration is becoming stronger, bringing both benefits and costs. The region is diverse, and so are the challenges that must be overcome to achieve greater trade and financial...

Asia’s phenomenal growth over the past few decades has been driven by the rise of Factory Asia. However, the global financial crisis and uncertain growth prospects in the United States and the eurozone have dampened demand for Asian exports. At the same time, rising wages threaten to erode the...

Ensuring a secure supply of food is essential, given the world’s (and especially Asia’s) growing population, high and volatile food prices, increasingly scarce resources, and changing environment. This paper discusses the drivers behind food insecurity in Asia and points to ways to mitigate...

The Framework of Inclusive Growth Indicators 2012 (FIGI 2012) is the follow-up edition to FIGI 2011, which proposed a set of 35 indicators as measures of income and non-income outcomes of inclusive growth; the processes and inputs that are important to improve access to opportunities, social...

Papua New Guinea’s economic growth has outpaced the majority of economies in Southeast Asia and the Pacific since 2007. Its development challenges, however, remain daunting, and it lags behind other countries in the region in terms of per capita income and achievement of the Millennium...