In Asia: Weekly Insight and Features from Asia

The streets of Vietnam’s biggest cities reveal unmistakable signs of wealth. Mercedes and Lexus luxury cars are common, and now and then, you can catch a glimpse of a Bentley or a Maybach gliding along the congested thoroughfares. Vietnamese “new rich” can now access the latest fashion and accessories…

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The majority of migrants are young and, increasingly, women. Migrants represent both Vietnam’s greatest advantages and greatest challenges. Their 14-15-hour work days have helped fuel the economic miracle that has rocketed Vietnam from one of the five poorest countries in the world in 1985 to an average per capita income of over $1,000 in 2010. Economic reform, combined with cheap, flexible labor has led to a surge in foreign investment. Booming consumerism is visible in the adverts on every street corner and the accessories hanging off Vietnam’s newly wealthy youth.

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Stories of Vietnam’s rapid development make headlines in local and international media regularly these days. In 1985, the average per-capita income in Vietnam was $130, making it one of the five poorest countries in the world. Now, with average incomes over $1,000, Vietnam’s highly literate population…

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Vietnam has just finished its university entrance exam season, with nearly 2 million applicants vying for a coveted spot in some 400 universities and colleges. The competition is fierce; only about one-third of them will be successful. Given the country’s strong traditional dedication to learning, the intense desire by Vietnamese parents to ensure that their children will have more opportunities than they had and will be able to compete in a more globalized world is driving the educational pressure even higher. The legacy of a socialist, polytechnic education system in Vietnam means that students are channeled early into specialized academic areas…

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Asia has fewer fresh water resources than any other continent in the world. The global average of fresh water per capita annually is 6,280 cubic meters. The only countries rich in water resources in all of Asia are Malaysia, Laos, Bhutan, Nepal, and Kyrgyzstan, leaving the rest of Asia water-stressed.

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Students from Asia comprise the largest group of globally mobile students around the world (43 percent). Students from China (820,000) represent 25 percent of the global total of international students and over 268,000 Indian students are enrolled in higher education institutions (HEIs) around the world.

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One month after the devastating earthquake and tsunami struck Japan, the Japanese are still coping with an incredible accumulation of sorrow, devastation, and anxiety about the future. Beyond the most urgent question of how Japan will recover from such a calamitous situation, a secondary concern is the potential human, environmental, and economic impact the crisis will have on the rest of Asia. Economists seem to agree that the disaster is not likely to pose a significant, long-term risk to the global economy.

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Mai and Hoa, both 15-year-old residents of Can Tho City with three more years of secondary school left before graduating, have decided to drop out in order to find work to support their families. Can Tho City is a major economic and tourist hub of Vietnam’s Mekong Delta…

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This March 8th marks the 100th anniversary of the first International Women’s Day, a global celebration of the economic, political, and social achievements of women. It will be a day to commemorate the unprecedented number of women candidates who ran in Afghanistan’s most recent parliamentary elections; the women who make up approximately 33 percent of Nepal’s Constituent Assembly and 29.2 percent of Timor-Leste’s Parliament; the high annual growth rate of women business owners in Vietnam; and the gender parity in Bangladesh’s primary and secondary education system. Two million girls are now in school in Afghanistan and 509,000 women own small and medium sized businesses in Indonesia.

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In recent decades, Asia has experienced transformative economic growth and reform, and women have made significant advances in gender equity, political participation, and personal security – but challenges remain. The Asia Foundation’s Women’s Empowerment Program seeks to identify change agents, create new political and economic opportunities for women, build constituencies for reform, develop leaders, increase women’s rights, and ensure their personal security.

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