Infrastructure is essential for development. This report presents a snapshot of the current condition of developing Asia's infrastructure---defined here as transport, power, telecommunications, and water supply and sanitation. It examines how much the region has been investing in infrastructure and what will likely be needed through 2030. Finally, it analyzes the financial and institutional challenges that will shape future infrastructure investment and development.
Forecasts suggest that solid growth in Asia is likely to continue. By 2030, Asian economies are expected to be roughly four times larger than they are today, and Asia’s share of global output is expected to rise to 40% of the global total. In contrast, most countries in the Pacific have experienced extended periods of relatively low growth, and many have suffered significant setbacks from disasters. This book analyzes and discerns some of the main trends driving economic relations between Asia and the Pacific. It aims to assess how the 14 Pacific developing member countries of the Asian Development Bank can better tap into opportunities arising from Asian growth, and explores how the economic and financial integration between Asia and the Pacific can be expanded to benefit both regions. Pacific Opportunities identifies critical constraints on integration and sets out policy reforms to address these constraints to mutually beneficial economic ties between the two regions. These two very different regions have drawn closer economically over the past two decades as improvements in transport infrastructure and advances in information and communications technology have helped to bridge geographic distance.
This publication offers a snapshot of Asia's energy sources and how they are used, and presents recent developments and challenges that emphasize the urgency and necessity of sustainable energy initiatives. It features 15 recent noteworthy projects as case stories (contexts, solutions, results, and lessons) that were implemented in Bangladesh, Bhutan, the People's Republic of China, India, Indonesia, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Philippines, and Uzbekistan in the areas of energy efficiency, solar energy, geothermal, waste-to-energy, advanced coal technology, and electricity interconnection.