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Infrastructure competitiveness plays a central role in attracting investment and promoting economic growth. However, Vietnam is lagging behind some regional countries in this regard. For example, the World Economic Forum's 2019 Global Competitiveness Report ranked Vietnam 67th out of 141 economies for national competitiveness and 77th for infrastructure quality. Only 20 per cent of the country's national roads are paved, much lower than neighbouring countries such as Malaysia (80.9%), India (63.24%), and Indonesia (89.7%). Vietnam's Ministry of Planning and Investment estimates that the country will need approximately US$480 billion in infrastructure investment from 2017 to 2030, while the 2019 Global Infrastructure Investor Survey report ranked Vietnam, together with India, China, Brazil, and Indonesia, among the top five developing countries with the largest infrastructure markets in the next five years. Comprehensive infrastructure development has been highlighted as one of the three strategic breakthroughs for Vietnam's 2021-2030 Socio-Economic Development Plan. The need to upgrade physical infrastructure and logistics services has become even more urgent due to increasing competition among regional countries to attract investors who wish to diversify their manufacturing base away from China. Post-pandemic economic recovery has also underscored the importance of infrastructure development as one of the most effective measures to stimulate economic growth. The Vietnamese government has targeted a growth rate of at least 6 per cent for 2021, with public spending on infrastructure development identified as one of the key measures to achieve this target.

As a rival to China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the G7's "Build Back Better World" (B3W) will face significant challenges. As a complement, however, both the B3W and BRI together could help build a more inter-connected world and drive global economic growth in the post-COVID-19 era.

This ADBI newsletter is published periodically throughout the year to provide information on current events, seminars and summits, Job opportunities, blogs and news and current publications concerning growth and development in Asia and the Pacific.

Land acquisition for infrastructure projects abroad is one of the principal challenges the Indian government faces while pursuing its strategy of regional connectivity in South Asia. This paper examines two in-depth case studies on Indian-funded infrastructure projects in Nepal and surveys the institutional impediments and expertise deficiencies that cause delays in the process of land acquisition. Such issues lead to protracted problems, on the ground between central, local, public and private stakeholders, to occasional tensions in bilateral government relations, and most importantly, to significant escalation in costs to India's public exchequer. Despite the strategic and economic significance of this issue, no research has been previously conducted on how land acquisition and property rights hinder India's infrastructure projects and strategic connectivity objectives. Our paper also offers a comparative assessment of national and multilateral development partners such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and why they have been more successful in overcoming similar challenges. This is because they prepare country-specific guidelines and have expertise and partners to assess the potential risk of land acquisition. They also develop capacity-building initiatives that support domestic enforcement of property laws that regulate compensation and rehabilitation of affected landowners. The paper contributes to the evolving policy and institutional debates on how the Indian government, and the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in particular, can enhance its expert and technical capacity to engage in future land acquisition processes abroad, especially in the case of Nepal and other neighbouring countries. It makes the case for the Indian government, via MEA, to: 1. Encourage interactions between diplomatic generalists and various domestic Indian expert stakeholders involved in land governance and property rights at the central and state levels. This should help in the development of clear benchmarks for all land- and property-rights related issues involving Indian infrastructure projects abroad. 2. Deepen bilateral engagements between Indian officials and their counterparts in Nepal to exchange best practices on property rights and land acquisition governance, including, for example, digitisation of land records. 3. Coordinate with other national and multilateral development cooperation agencies to exchange best practices and develop Indian guidelines and standards for land acquisition, resettlement, and rehabilitation processes abroad. This could, for example, include the ADB and AIIB or the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and the United States Agency for International Development (USAid).

As the key venture under the Sino-Singapore (Chongqing) Strategic Connectivity Demonstration Project, the third government-to-government (G-to-G) cooperation project between China and Singapore, the International Land-Sea Trade Corridor (ILSTC, previously known as the Southern Transport Corridor), has raised high expectations since it was officially launched in September 2017.1 The corridor seeks to reduce transaction costs for businesses by providing them with connectivity options, including highway, river, railway, and air links, to promote cooperation in the priority sectors of financial services, aviation, logistics and transport, and ICT. The ILSTC has made some progress over the last two years, with the two countries expanding the breadth and depth of their cooperation, including connecting more transportation lines and increasing the scale of freight transport. Official statistics show that as of 30 June 2020, the ILSTC has been extended to 234 ports in 92 countries and regions around the world, including Singapore.2 With a steady increase in the participation, the construction of the ILSTC appears to have gotten off to a good start, although there remain a number of key challenges.

The country operations business plan (COBP), 2021–2023 is aligned with the country partnership strategy, 2016–2020 of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) that ends this year. The COBP is also consistent with the guiding principles of the 8th five-year plan (under preparation) and its core themes of promoting prosperity and fostering inclusiveness, and ADB's Strategy 2030. The COBP includes projects in agriculture, natural resources, and rural development; education; health; energy; finance; transport; and water supply and other urban infrastructure and services sectors. It continues to support gender inclusion, climate resilience, balanced regional development, and private sector participation. It emphasizes the inclusion of innovative approaches and new technology in projects and programs, and full leveraging of cofinancing opportunities. Adopting the "One-ADB" approach, ADB will continue to scale up its private sector operations while pursuing public–private partnership projects. Responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, financing priorities of the COBP have been adjusted to include policy-based loan covering social protection, economic recovery, and medium-term health programs. Projects in the COBP will also help the country attain several Sustainable Development Goals.

Research findings are critical for debate, policy formulation and developing comprehensive national priorities. While research and development continue to garner political interest in Myanmar – reflected in R&D national funding commitments – research funding is primarily allocated to 'hard sciences' and technical research. As in other developing countries, the instrumentality of social sciences is often neglected and overlooked by the government and its partners in their pursuit of national development objectives and specific policy goals. This is exacerbated by financial constraints and the immensity and range of development priorities that encompass a large variety of thematic areas and timescales. As a result, social science is low down on the list of priorities on the research agenda. In addition, political ideology and popular persuasion often supersede the use of research evidence and data analytics in policymaking. Amid such a paradigm, development agencies and international actors play an important role in assisting Myanmar in navigating its political trade-offs and achieving the desired national developmental goals. Social research is critical helping in navigating these complexities.

Durante la última década, los conglomerados financieros colombianos se han expandido internacionalmente aumentando significativamente su grado de complejidad geográfica. Aprovechando esta notoria expansión, este documento analiza el efecto de la complejidad geográfica de los Conglomerados Financieros Internacionales (CFI) en el nivel de riesgo de los bancos colombianos. Para el análisis, empleamos datos mensuales a nivel bancario sobre indicadores financieros y medidas de complejidad para el período 2007-2018. Utilizamos la métrica del Z-Score como una medida del riesgo bancario y el número de países en los que un CFI colombiano tiene filiales de bancos extranjeros como medida de complejidad geográfica. Nuestros resultados sugieren que una mayor complejidad geográfica está asociada con niveles más altos de riesgo bancario. Los canales por los cuales se da esta relación están asociados con unas altas correlaciones en el ciclo económico de los países a los cuales los CFI se expandieron, así como con menores niveles de calidad regulatoria en esos países. Además, encontramos que los bancos con acceso a fuentes internacionales responden de manera diferente a los cambios en la política monetaria. En particular, durante los períodos de endurecimiento (relajamiento) de la política monetaria interna, los bancos individuales de IFC más complejos presentan niveles de riesgo más altos (más bajos), lo que sugiere que el nivel de complejidad geográfica afecta el canal de toma de riesgos de la política monetaria. ; During the last decade Colombian international financial conglomerates (IFC) expanded abroad, significantly increasing their geographical complexity. This paper analyzes the effect of this change in geographical complexity on the risk level of individual Colombian banks. We use monthly bank-level data on financial indicators and complexity measures for the period 2007- 2018. We use the Z-score as a measure of bank risk and the number of countries in which a Colombian IFC has foreign banks subsidiaries as a measure of geographical complexity. Our results suggest that complexity is associated with higher levels of individual bank risk, as a result of an expansion to countries with large GDP co-movements and lower regulatory qualities. In addition, we find that banks with access to international funding respond differently to monetary policy changes. In particular, during periods of domestic monetary policy tightening (loosening), individual banks of complex IFCs present higher (lower) levels of risk, suggesting that the monetary policy risk taking channel is affected by the level of geographical complexity. ; Efecto de la Complejidad Geográfica de Conglomerados Financieros en el Riesgo Bancario: papel de la diversificación, el arbitraje regulatorio y los costos de fondeo* Enfoque Los Conglomerados Financieros Internacionales han experimentado una expansión significativa durante las últimas décadas tanto en las economías avanzadas como en las emergentes. Sin embargo, la investigación empírica sobre la relación entre la complejidad geográfica y el riesgo bancario es escasa y la literatura ha llegado a resultados mixtos y, en cierto sentido, contradictorios. Este documento analiza esta relación para el caso de los Conglomerados Financieros Internacionales (CFI) colombianos y las implicaciones de los cambios de la política monetaria en la sensibilidad del riesgo bancario. Contribución Durante la última década, los conglomerados financieros colombianos se han expandido internacionalmente aumentando significativamente su grado de complejidad geográfica. Esta situación proporciona el entorno adecuado para estudiar el efecto de una mayor complejidad geográfica de los Conglomerados Financieros Internacionales (CFI) en el nivel de riesgo de los bancos colombianos. Frase destacada: Una mayor complejidad geográfica de los conglomerados financieros internacionales (CFI) colombianos está asociada con mayores niveles de riesgo bancario. Esta relación se da principalmente a través de unas altas correlaciones en el ciclo económico de los países a los cuales los CFI se expandieron, así como de unos menores niveles de calidad regulatoria en esos países. Resultados Nuestros resultados sugieren que una mayor complejidad geográfica está asociada con mayores niveles de riesgo bancario. Los canales por los cuales se da esta relación están asociados con unas altas correlaciones en el ciclo económico de los países a los cuales los CFI se expandieron, así como con menores niveles de calidad regulatoria en esos países. Además, encontramos que los bancos con acceso a fuentes internacionales responden de manera diferente a los cambios en la política monetaria. En particular, durante los períodos de endurecimiento (relajamiento) de la política monetaria interna, los bancos individuales de IFC más complejos presentan niveles de riesgo más altos (más bajos), lo que sugiere que el nivel de complejidad geográfica afecta el canal de toma de riesgo de la política monetaria.

In 2020, the Paris Agreement is the pinnacle of international law on climate change. It orchestrates global climate action over the coming decades. Countries agreed to limit global warming to well below 2ºC above preindustrial times, closer to 1.5ºC. Humankind will only achieve this temperature goal if we domesticate our international climate commitments. Judges have proven to be instrumental in holding their governments accountable for their climate pledges. Report Four of this four-part series explores the nature of the Paris Agreement, its history, and the framework of international instruments and international legal principles that support global and domestic climate action

National legal and policy frameworks underpin international climate action because they are the backbone of domestic responses to the climate emergency. Unless they support global objectives, local climate action stalls. Concerned by sluggish national responses to climate change or injured by its impacts, citizens are filing lawsuits, making courts central to national climate governance. To adjudicate these lawsuits, courts require current information about their climate change legal and policy frameworks. This report provides holistic syntheses of the climate legal and policy frameworks of 32 countries in Asia and the Pacific and discusses key legislative trends and climate-relevant constitutional rights.

We propose that the Group of 20 countries build a robust upstream policy and institutional framework for delivering on sustainable infrastructure. Specifically, such a framework should include coherent growth strategies and well-articulated investment plans, comprehensive infrastructure plans, a sound project prioritization framework, and procurement policies that integrate sustainability criteria. Additionally, the Group of 20 countries should work with development finance institutions to build sound platforms to bring together all relevant stakeholders to help attract and evaluate investments in sustainable infrastructure.

This document outlines the operations strategy and plan for the ASEAN Catalytic Green Finance Facility (ACGF) pilot phase 2019–2021. It details the approach and targets of the pilot phase, and serves as a guide for the ASEAN Infrastructure Fund administration team and the ACGF project structuring team in ADB.

The year of 2019 was quite special, particularly as we intensified our work in Ukraine. Our partners will be aware that in 2018 we established permanent representation in Ukraine, enabling us to become more deeply involved in numerous projects in that country, and to support its advances in economic development, democracy and good governance through policy, structural and administrative reforms. Among other activities, we are working under the European Delegation to Ukraine project - Mid-term evaluation of the project ref. ENI/2017/368-814 Communicating Europe in Ukraine (CEIU), as part of the consortium led by B&S Europe. The objective here is to assess CEIU, a project aimed at supporting Ukraine's reform process through the development and delivery of a positive and impactful communication approach based on the EU's support for Ukraine. The evaluation focuses on analyzing achievements of CEIU. In particular, the performance of the project, its enabling factors and issues hampering proper delivery of results were all reviewed in order to adjust its design accordingly. Its final results will support the EU Delegation to Ukraine, the Government of Ukraine and relevant line ministries, as well as other stakeholders to plan future activities and interventions more effectively.

At the time of project design, Nepal was among the poorest countries in the world. Poverty is high in rural areas where the incidence rate is 44%, which is almost double that in urban areas at 23%. Poverty incidence rate at 72% in the midwestern and far western regions and 56% in the mountain districts were much higher than the national average. The hill and mountain districts of these regions ranked lowest in socioeconomic and infrastructure development. Their livelihood indicators and road densities, which are substantially lower than in other districts, and their limited market access exacerbated poverty in these areas. Problems in mountain areas were aggravated by the civil war between 1996 and 2006. The civil conflict displaced about 400,000 landowners and directly affected 2.4 million people, primarily in the western regions. Poor access to inputs, services, and markets due to rugged terrain made it hard to increase agricultural productivity. Hence, improving physical access was seen as a prerequisite for significant economic development, mainly through reduced transport costs. It was also necessary to enhance the livelihood opportunities of socially excluded groups affected by the civil conflict. This would have to entail increasing consumer spending, diversifying agricultural production in rural mountain areas, and helping the residents with better government services.

The first plan to construct a High-Speed Railway (HSR) in Vietnam was rejected by the national assembly in 2010 due to its high cost. The government prepared an amended plan for the national assembly's approval again in May 2020. This paper analyses the profitability of the HSR project in Vietnam. Based on the estimated relationship between the population density of regions along the railways and the profit margin of railway companies in Japan, we find that passenger service alone would not make Vietnam's HSR profitable. The project should consider connectivity to suburban areas around highly populated cities and have a diversified business plan with 32 to 54 per cent of profits coming from non-transport sectors such as hotel, real estate, and retail. Moreover, we find that the HSR could be more profitable when it is extended to Phnom Penh and Bangkok as a part of the Southern Economic Corridor connecting Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand in the future.