In Asia: Weekly Insight and Features from Asia

More Malaysians may soon request one sugar instead of two in their teh tarik and opt for the bus rather than the car for their commute to work. On July 18, 2010, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s announced cuts to subsidies on items such as sugar and fuel. This is the first step in the government’s subsidy rationalization programme that it argues will save the country RM 750 million (over $233 million) this year. Money, they say, that can instead be used as resources for families, communities, and business growth. This comes at a time when the Malaysian economy has strongly rebounded from the global financial crisis with double digit growth and Najib’s administration enjoys a healthy public satisfaction rate of 72 percent.

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In Asia recently spoke with Indian journalist Indrani Bagchi, diplomatic editor for The Times of India, the country’s largest English-language daily, on her way back from Washington, D.C., where she finished conducting research on U.S.-China relations and their impact on India, as an Asia Foundation Chang-Lin Tien Visiting Fellow. Bagchi speaks on rising print newspaper readership in India, President Obama’s upcoming visit to India, and more.

Q: What domestic and international issues are the Indian media covering well?

India’s domestic issues still remain the biggest thing that we cover. There is so much to cover within India on any given day in terms of crises, developments, politics. The quantum of stories from the domestic sector is just enormous. But for those of us who cover foreign policy, it’s always a fight for space with the domestic editors. At night, when everybody’s lobbying for last minute space, it’s a battle.

Q: Is this a reflection of a decrease in foreign coverage globally?

Possibly, but in India it also has to do with our newspaper’s revenue model. We are completely advertisement-led.

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Just months ago, Choeung would never have dreamt of speaking in public. If told that he would speak in front of more than 300 people, including high-ranking officials, several deputy governors from seven provinces, and an under secretary of state, he would have laughed at such a good joke, and his fellow fishermen would have as well. But that was months ago, when Choeung and his colleagues from the community fishery of Stung Kambot in Kampong Thom province gathered for the first time to discuss constraints they faced in their fishing activities and how they could organize themselves to engage with the public sector and find ways to improve their businesses.

Community members from Cambodia's fishery and forestry sectors discuss common challenges and threats to natural resources at a cross provincial workshop attended by more than 300 people. Photo: Nicolas Axelrod/asiamotion.net

Early this month – less than nine months later – no one thought of laughing when Choeung took the microphone and stood in front of the large audience assembled in the Kampong Thom Provincial Hall.

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In late 2008, in the midst of the financial and economic crisis, factory owners in Bangladesh showed remarkable confidence in the future of their industry in Bangladesh. Government officials were also confident of the capacity of the private sector to adapt and remain competitive while workers themselves were confident of their capacity to deliver quality products at a competitive price. But, although Bangladesh has done well in the garment and textiles sector, if the country wants to expand even more and remain competitive, finds the first paper in The Asia Foundation’s new “Occasional Paper” series, it will need to make investments in human capital and technology, rather than just reduce input costs. Research for this paper included extensive interviews with factory workers and government officials, and seven focus-group discussions with 33 factory workers.

The paper offers policy recommendations to improve efficiency at the factory level, including providing improved benefits to workers and developing coalitions between the private sector and local and international NGOs, as well as factories, to establish industry standards. It also suggests reforms of the business environment that could provide an overall boost, not only to the garment industry, but to the economy as a whole. Download the paper.

In March, USAID and The Asia Foundation co-hosted a regional conference on “The Role of Religious and Community Leaders in Advancing Development in Asia.” The conference provided a forum where over 70 religious and community leaders from 14 countries could share their views and experiences from their respective countries. “We have people from so many different religious backgrounds and so many different countries talking together in partnership with the U.S. government about religion and development,” explains Ari Alexander, deputy director of the Center for Faith-Based & Community Initiatives, in this new video in which participants share their perspectives. “For the first time in my life,” says Buddhist Maha Vihara Committee Member N.B. Dayananda, “I have come upon a scene where I have a fresh hope.”

Through the 18-month, USAID-funded pilot project Conflict Mitigation through Community-Oriented Policing (CMCOP), The Asia Foundation is playing a significant role in supporting both the police and Timorese communities to develop a new partnership, enhancing police legitimacy and responsiveness to community needs. CMCOP aims to improve the performance of police and build public trust by fostering collaborative community-police partnerships that use a problem-solving approach to respond to the security needs and expectations of the community. “For 24 years, until 1999, the police in Timor-Leste were under the command of the Indonesian military,” explains Asia Foundation Country Representative in Timor-Leste, Silas Everett, in this new video about the CMCOP program. “Today, people still hold memories of the fears they felt toward the police and the security forces at that time.”

This summer has been one of the hottest summers on record in Vietnam, with temperatures often rising above 100 F in many parts of the country. Low rainfall has rendered the country’s network of hydroelectrical power plants virtually useless, and rising energy consumption has outstripped the capacity of the state-owned energy sector, leading to rolling blackouts throughout the country in recent months. The unprecedented heat wave, however, has not kept many Vietnamese from following closely the debate over the government of Vietnam’s ambitious proposal for a high speed rail project linking Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City – a proposal that had the mercury rising even higher within the walls of the National Assembly last month.

Vietnam recently proposed an ambitious plan for a high speed rail project planned to transport passengers on the 975-mile journey from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City in about five and a half hours, traveling at 186 miles per hour. Photo courtesy of Creative Commons Licenses.

Simply put, this was the biggest project proposal ever to come before the National Assembly (NA) for approval. According to the government’s preliminary investment report, the high speed rail will make the 975-mile journey from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City in about five and a half hours, traveling at 186 miles per hour.

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Despite tremendous economic growth achieved over the past two decades, hunger continues to beset much of Asia. Estimates show that there are 850 million hungry people globally. Of this total, at least 550 million are in Asia, indicating that some 16 percent of all Asians are in a state of hunger. This is a stubborn challenge for Asian governance.

The efficiency and productivity of the food and agriculture sector has immense bearing on the welfare of entire populations. Above, workers shift grain bags at a mill factory in Cambodia. Photo by Karl Grobl.

Food security for all can only be attained if the problem of hunger is recognized as a shared challenge – one that can only be overcome by better sharing of resources and communication, as well as coordination among nations through regional and global integration and the fostering of open trade and exchange, particularly of agriculture and food.

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This article is the first in a three-part blog series exploring the barriers to women’s advancement in Asia and how The Asia Foundation is working to address them.

After months of advocating for access to credit from their local bank, the members of the District Women’s Business Forum (DWBF) in Sylhet, Bangladesh, have something to celebrate: 12 of them recently received bank loans to grow their businesses. One has already opened a new outlet for her business and hired 10 women to work there. Another has recruited five women for the planned expansion of her handicraft and garment enterprise. All of them are already in a position to repay the bank. Fifteen more loan applications are in the pipeline.

In many Asian countries, including Bangladesh, cultural tradition dictates that property and assets are almost always registered in the name of a male member of the household, denying Bangladeshi women the chance to gain collateral, needed to get bank loans to start businesses. Photo by Jon Jamieson.

These may be small numbers, but they represent a breakthrough that could add up for Bangladesh in the long run. Currently, women have extremely limited access to the capital that exists in their own country, which is a major impediment to expanding their businesses and creating jobs.

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In Cairo, President Obama declared a renewed commitment to fostering interfaith dialogue and called for a new beginning in relations with religious communities worldwide. On the heels of this historic speech, religious leaders have gathered from across the world for two international conferences to engage in dialogue and debate and affirm the president’s call. In addition to a recent interfaith conference in Indonesia, Whitehouse.gov highlights the March 2010 conference in Dhaka, convened by USAID and The Asia Foundation, on “The Role of Religious Leaders in Advancing Development in Asia” in connection with the work of the administration’s Inter-religious Cooperation Task Force of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.

The conference provided a forum where over 70 religious and community leaders from 14 countries could share views and experience drawn from different country contexts and working environments. The Asia Foundation’s Bangladesh Leaders of Influence program, which since its launch in 2004 has introduced over 15,000 religious and community leaders to key development issues, served as a working model for conference participants. Upon return from the conference, many enthusiastic participants shared their thoughts on the Leaders of Influence blog, and demonstrated a keen interest in developing similar programs in their home countries.

Read a recent in-depth blog piece about the conference by participant Kim McQuay, The Asia Foundation’s Regional Director for Law and Governance, or visit the Leaders of Influence website to learn more.