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Bangladesh startup ecosystem assessment report
No full textThe global COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating effect on economies worldwide, and small businesses, in particular, are coping with multiple challenges resulting from the crisis. The ongoing move towards more digital transactions and offering traditional services through online platforms, however, also creates new opportunities for small businesses and startups to innovate and build new products that exploit the new environment. In connection with the UN’s global initiative towards post-COVID-19 resurgence of the MSME sector, ESCAP has partnered with key stakeholders in Bangladesh’s tech sector, including Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority, the Bangladesh Startup Consortium, and the ICT Division of the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh to produce this report on the current status of Bangladesh’s startup ecosystem.
The report evaluates the current macroeconomic and development environment of Bangladesh, gives an overview of important stakeholders in the ecosystem, and looks at current investment trends as background to an evaluation of the opportunities for tech startups in the country. By also taking into account the Government’s current initiatives to grow the technology sector, the report shows what areas might require further attention for the continued advancement of startups. In particular, greater emphasis on women’s entrepreneurship and gender lens investing will enhance the contribution of Bangladesh’s businesswomen, including women-led micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).</p
Reclaiming our future : a common agenda for advancing sustainable development in Asia and the Pacific
No full textOver the past two decades, the region has lifted millions out of poverty. Most countries are now in a position to offer their citizens many more opportunities to live longer, healthier, more productive and secure lives. In a wealthier but riskier world, these achievements are threatened by three overlapping crises. The most immediate is the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic which has cost many lives, brought economies to a standstill and pushed back an estimated 85 million people into extreme poverty measured at $1.9 per day. Second, rapid economic growth has often had devastating environmental consequences by exhausting natural resources, generating dangerous levels of pollution and contributing to global heating. An existential threat from climate change looms large. Third, is the damage from natural disasters that recur with increasing frequency and intensity.Reclaiming our future. A common agenda for advancing sustainable development in Asia and the Pacific. The theme study for the 78th Commission session describes pathways to achieve more inclusive and sustainable post-pandemic recovery. It identifies elements for a common agenda for present and future generations centred on protecting people and the planet, leveraging digital opportunities, trading and investing more together, raising financial resources and managing debt. It underlines the need to listen and work with young people, placing women at the centre for crisis-prepared policy action and new people-centric partnerships, with the readiness of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) to serve.The theme study for the 78th Commission session will be launched on 17 May 2022 with the key messages of the report presented by the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and ESCAP Executive Secretary Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana
Regulatory cooperation in vaccines in the Asia-Pacific region : special series on trade and health
No full textThe global health crisis that came to be known as the COVID-19 pandemic and started to sweep across the world in early 2020 revealed many vulnerabilities in the economic, social, and political fabric underpinning what much of the world had come to accept as normal. In ways that we are still grappling to understand, the pandemic and the many disruptions it brought about have ushered in significant changes to the way we work, consume, spend our leisure time, and even our relationships to government. In many ways, the pandemic has wrought a significant realignment between citizens and governments, both in terms of the expectations the former have of the latter and the powers the latter claims and exerts over the former. This paper explores the ways in which medicines (of which vaccines are a subset) are regulated today and what goals governments generally pursue in this policy area. It then turns to an examination of international regulatory cooperation in medicines before examining the unprecedented levels of international cooperation seen in response to the COVID-19 pandemic between not only governments but also the private sector and non-governmental organizations. The paper seeks to elucidate the regulatory cooperation in the area of vaccines that took place during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Asia-Pacific and concludes by discussing the present outlook while also setting out some policy recommendations for governments going forward.</p
2022 : Leaving no one behind : Kazakhstan country brief
No full textLeaving No One Behind (LNOB) tool helps discover how different circumstances interact to create unequal access to basic opportunities in Asia and the Pacific. The LNOB country brief for Kazakhstan provides insights into which groups are further ahead and further behind in various SDG indicators and where the biggest gaps are found in terms of access to opportunities or prevalence of barriers between the furthest behind and the furthest ahead groups in Kazakhstan. </p
Vaccine global value chains and regional production capacity in Asia and the Pacific
Get PDFThe coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has highlighted the crucial role of vaccines in public health management and economic recovery. Its worldwide impact has raised national security concerns and implications on health policies, particularly on Asia Pacific countries’ readiness to cope with the next pandemic. This report explains the rise of COVID-19 vaccine production of key vaccines and differentiates them into two different approaches: the internalization-driven production, in which the leading pharmaceutical multinationals control most of the vaccine production in a few locations; and the externalization-driven production, whereby lead companies extend their vaccine production to various regions. These two approaches are led by various factors, including vaccine technology, strategy and missions of the vaccine producers, and the availability and capacity of qualified contract manufacturers in host countries. Pros and cons for each approach need to be considered to limit the impact of nationalistic interests and policies that have been part of the delay in vaccine distribution in some countries. The ultimate objective of a vaccine policy is a speedy and efficient administration of vaccines in the population, not national production, even if the latter is a desirable goal for politicians.</p
Building urban economic resilience during and after covid-19 : Asia-Pacific regional policy brief
No full textThe following regional policy brief has been produced as the United Nations Economic and Social Commission of Asia and the Pacific's (ESCAP) contribution to the global project, "Building urban economic resilience during and after COVID-19". The brief is built upon the evidence-based diagnostic assessment of the resilience of the urban economies of the 4 pilot cities within the Asia-Pacific region, namely Hoi An (Viet Nam), Pune (India), Subang Jaya (Indonesia), and Suva (Fiji). Urban resilience has been measured across 5 dimensions: labour market; economic governance; business environment; financial environment; and infrastructure and connectivity. Part I of the brief describes the "Building urban economic resilience during and after COVID-19" project. Part II defines the elements of the Diagnostic Planning Tool that was used to assess the financial and economic resilience of the pilot cities. Part III provides a short summary of the results of the diagnostic assessment for each city with respect to each dimension, and ends with a synthesis of the major trends and emerging issues. Part IV discusses the challenges and limitations of building urban economic and financial resilience in the region and provides policy recommendations across all dimensions
International transport and logistics of vaccines across borders : the case of the Asia-Pacific region : special series on trade and health
No full textVaccines against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) have provided hope for containing the pandemic, but there are challenging obstacles to international transport and logistics of the new vaccines and vaccine inputs needed for manufacturing. This study identifies key barriers in the Asia-Pacific region to the timely and effective transport of vaccines from the countries where they are manufactured to the countries where they are needed.
The main hurdles for vaccines are import and export restrictions and limitations, and the lack of policy priority. Major bottlenecks include securing vaccine import approval by the national food and drug authority, having correct and efficient shipment routes (reliable direct flights and transport capacity), ensuring timeliness on customs clearance along with security control measures, assuring cold chain integrity along the supply chain and implementing transparency and visibility through tracking and tracing systems. It is recommended that Governments develop a national cold chain tracking and tracing system to ensure information sharing and monitoring. Furthermore, there is a lack of cold chain capacity for traditional, frozen and ultra-cold vaccines, in particular in low-income and lower-middle-income countries in the Pacific and Central Asia subregions.
To overcome obstacles and ease bottlenecks for import and export of vaccines and vaccine inputs, it is recommended that Governments in the region ensure good cooperation and coordination, including national, regional and international cooperation, among key industrial stakeholders in the public and private sectors. Such cooperation and coordination will help to smooth and ease the import and export process for both vaccines and vaccine inputs. Many countries in the region, such as Australia, India, Indonesia and Thailand, have reduced the cross-border processing time to less than three hours. Lastly, cold chain facilities and readiness are the key to the supply chain of vaccines. Where complying with different requirements and procedures for temperature management and control of different vaccines during transportation and cross-border processing is a challenge, it is recommended to conduct country-wide personnel training with an easy-to-understand procedure manual in local languages to build flexibility and capability
Localizing the sustainable development goals to address interlinked crises in the post-pandemic era
Get PDFThe world is facing a series of multiple and interlinked crises; a perfect storm that is testing the limits of current development paradigms. As countries and cities across Asia and the Pacific struggle to recover from the socioeconomic crisis resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, the climate crisis continues to ravage the region. Added to that, the war in Ukraine and the growing food and energy crisis is undermining prospects for a true recovery and in turn affect the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the region.
This discussion paper analyses how SDG localization can build urban resilience in times of severe risk, instability and uncertainty. It specifically addresses how Voluntary Local Review (VLR) reporting processes in this context provides a framework for cities to take ownership and stock of the development impacts resulting from multiple interlinked crises, identify gaps and challenges and helps prioritize SDG driven actions and future investments.
This discussion paper was developed by the Environment and Development Division, Sustainable Urban Development Section of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) to inform an Expert Group Meeting on Leveraging Sustainable Development Goal Localization to Strengthen Cities’ role in Addressing Interlinked Crises in the Post-pandemic era to Leave No One and Place Behind on 3rd October 2022 at the United Nations Conference Centre in Bangkok, Thailand as part of the Asia-Pacific regional commemoration of World Habitat Day 2022.</p
