Navigating COVID-19 in Asia and the Pacific

Edited by Bambang Susantono, Yasuyuki Sawada, and Cyn-Young Park

COVID-19 has unleashed unparalleled challenges, yet provides opportunities to rethink strategies to tackle inequality, socioeconomic vulnerability, and environmental issues. This book collects contributions from ADB staff and experts to help inform policy on diverse themes. These include tackling the economic fallout, supporting SMEs, protecting the vulnerable, ensuring food security, and building resilient trade and supply chains. The authors highlight the importance of quality infrastructure, disaster risk management, digital acceleration, and regional cooperation in building back better together.

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

Introduction

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

Economic Impact and Policy Response

The COVID-19 Economic Impact
COVID-19, Technology, and Polarizing Jobs
COVID-19 Impact on International Migration, Remittances, and Recipient Households in Developing Asia
COVID-19 and SARS: An Epidemiological and Economic Comparison
Key Responses to COVID-19 by Economies in Asia and the Pacific: An Update from the ADB COVID-19 Policy Database

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

Tackling the Financial Fallout

COVID-19 Exposes Asian Banks’ Vulnerability to United States Dollars Funding
How Can Asia Avoid Fallout if COVID-19 Triggers a Debt Crunch?
Pandemic Highlights the Need to Manage Asia’s Debt Problem
Reform State-Owned Enterprises to Avoid a COVID-19 Debt and Investment Crisis

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

Supporting Micro, Small, and Medium-Sized Enterprises

Micro, Small, and Medium-Sized Enterprises: Policy Measures for COVID-19
The COVID-19 Impact on Micro, Small, and Medium-Sized Enterprises: Evidence from Rapid Surveys in Indonesia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, the Philippines, and Thailand
Three Ways to Support Businesses and Their Workers During a Pandemic
Five Ways Banks Can Help Asia’s Smallest Businesses Survive COVID-19
Small Business Solutions for Pandemic Challenges

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

Mitigating the Impact on the Poor and Vulnerable

Mind the Gap in Combating COVID-19
To Survive the Pandemic, Indonesia’s Urban Poor Need Economic Support and Basic Services
We Need Better Social Protection to Safeguard the Poor from COVID-19
How to Protect Asia’s Rapidly Aging Population from COVID-19
Helping Women and Girls Survive COVID-19 and its Aftermath
The Informal Sector Needs Financial Support
Strings Attached: Financial Education Is Needed to Judge Pandemic Assistance

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

Ensuring Food Security and Sustainable Agriculture

COVID-19 Highlights the Need for Safe, Nutritious, and Affordable Food
Keeping Asia and the Pacific Fed during the Pandemic
How COVID-19 Could Accelerate the Digitization of the Food Supply Chain

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Building Resilient Trade and Supply Chains

Stringency of Containment Measures: Spillovers and Sectoral Effects through Trade and Production Linkages
Even with Borders Closing, We Need to Keep Trade Flowing
The Case for Regional Cooperation in Trade and Investment Finance for Asia
During COVID-19, Countries Need to Work Together to Ensure the Supply of Protective Equipment
New ADB Tool Offers Road Map to Unblock Supplies of Life-Saving Products

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

Accelerating Digital Transformation

COVID-19: There’s an App for That
The Global Economy Will Emerge Stronger if COVID-19 Drives Digitization
Will the Pandemic Speed Up Workplace Automation?
Blending Education and Technology to Help Schools through the Pandemic
COVID-19 Has Created Digital Opportunities in the Pacific

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

Rebooting Asia after COVID-19

Rebooting the Economy during COVID-19
Two Ways to Help Revive Tourism in Asia and the Pacific
Managing Public�Private Partnerships for a Post-Pandemic Recovery
Asia and the Pacific Can Overcome COVID-19 by Working Together
Asia Should Lead the Way in Producing a COVID-19 Vaccine

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

Building Back Better Together

Building Back Better, Differently, and Together in Asia and the Pacific
Strengthening Disaster Resilience
Quality Must Prevail in Post-Pandemic Infrastructure Development
Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Key to Pacific’s Ongoing COVID-19 Strategy
Build Green to Help Fend Off the Next Pandemic
The Response to COVID-19 Should Also Be a Response to the Climate Crisis
Back to Blue: Let’s Value Our Oceans Again

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The Asia Regional Integration Center (ARIC) is an ongoing technical assistance project of the Economic Research and Regional Cooperation Department (ERCD). Following the 1997/98 Asian financial crisis and the contagion evident around the region, ADB was asked to use its knowledge-based expertise to help monitor the recovery and report objectively on potential vulnerabilities and policy solutions. With the ASEAN+3 process just starting, ADB provided technical assistance beginning in 1999—to create the Asia Recovery Information Center, the precursor to ARIC.

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