For Universal Healthcare, the Philippines Tries “Sin Taxes”
...17th Congress. The new law raised the cigarette tax per pack to PHP 45.00 (USD 0.88) in 2020, with an annual increase of PHP 5.00 until it reaches PHP 60.00...
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The Asia Foundation launches Myanmar Business Environment Index 2020
Second edition of MBEI tool shows progress in governance for private sector development Today, The Asia Foundation released the Myanmar Business Environment Index 2020 (MBEI). The MBEI 2020, funded by...
How’s Business? We Have a Benchmark for That
...MBEI has some important differences and advantages compared to other international indices. The World Bank’s Doing Business study, for example, indexes Myanmar against other countries, while the MBEI indexes Myanmar’s...
The Asia Foundation Convenes Government, Private Sector to Discuss Responsible AI in the Philippines
...Institute and LIRNEasia with funding from IDRC Canada, convened a roundtable in the Philippines January 28, 2025, to discuss responsible AI and share key findings from the first Global Index...
Fighting the Good Fight: The Case of the Philippine Rice Sector
...domestic rice farmers compete with the imported rice. A total of PHP 10 billion per year is earmarked for RCEF. It will aid farmers with mechanization, seed distribution, credit assistance,...
The Vietnam City Resilience Index
...foster greater awareness and action on resilience building in Vietnam. We also believe that lessons from developing the Vietnam City Resilience Index will be valuable as a guide to other...
Myanmar Business Environment Index: Covid-19 Impact on Businesses
...Environment Index (MBEI) project, The Asia Foundation conducted two surveys of 750 businesses to see what kind of impact Covid-19 is having on them. The first one was conducted in...
Myanmar Business Environment Index 2020: Measuring Economic Governance for Private Sector Development
The Asia Foundation initiated the first ever Myanmar Business Environment Index (MBEI) in 2018, surveying 4,874 Myanmar businesses in the service and manufacturing industries across the country and gathering a...
Guidelines for an Index on Gender Friendly Cities
To address the issue of lack of safety in public spaces and fear that women and girls face in them—a tool to assess and measure the quality of built environment...
Nepal’s Legislative Strides to Combat Human Trafficking: Aligning with the Palermo Protocol
As part of the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime, The Palermo Protocol is the first legal document to provide an internationally recognized definition of human trafficking. It serves...
Fostering a Love for Reading in Nepal: Let’s Read Exhibitions
In Nepal, our Let’s Read initiative is continuing to cultivate a love of books and reading through interactive and community-focused literature festivals. The initiative draws on The Asia Foundation’s deep...
Let’s Read BookLab: Authors and Illustrators Get on the Same Page to Promote Children’s Literacy
A round table is covered by colorful children’s books and laptops as writers and illustrators flip through book pages, discussing the balance between text and images. This collaboration allows artists...
Good Practice in Subnational Economic Governance in Myanmar
Findings from the 2019 Myanmar Business Environment Index In 2019, The Asia Foundation released the first ever Myanmar Business Environment Index (MBEI). This wealth of data provided an opportunity for...
Nepal Gains Ground in Civic Space Efforts
...of the last decade. The 2023 report ranked Nepal 62nd of 179 countries on their Liberal Democracy Index. This progress can mainly be attributed to changes in the electoral process,...
Insights from the Australasian AID Conference 2020
...are only deals” (Lant Pritchett) Lant Pritchett (Photo: Development Policy Centre) In his keynote presentation, development economist Lant Pritchett challenged an assertion of the World Bank’s Doing Business Index that...
Ways to Give
...you are interested in raising funds for one of our campaigns or sharing a personal story about your connection to The Asia Foundation’s mission, you can customize a fundraising page...
Funding Women Entrepreneurs on Mongolia’s Covid Front Line
...business producing bed linens and blankets, but when the border with China closed, she lost her source of raw materials. Her business received another blow when the government, for the...
Purpose-Built Financing for Disaster-Risk Management
Asia and the Pacific have emerged as the most disaster-prone regions in the world. From typhoons in the Philippines and heat waves blanketing South Asia to deadly earthquakes in Indonesia...