Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Report 2011: Post-crisis trade and investment opportunities

In Asia and the Pacific, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) remain a critical source of employment creation (in many economies of Asia and the Pacific contributing 60% or more of jobs) and income generation. While SMEs enhance dynamism in economies by providing flexibility and fresh ideas, they can also stabilize societies by providing safety nets for disadvantaged workers. In this regard, the SME sector has occupied a prominent position in the development agenda of all developing economies in the region; thus, promotion of SME development has been regarded as an important policy issue in those economies.SMEs, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, Regional, Global, Markets, Value chains, opportunities, apparel, garments

Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Report 2011: Post-crisis trade and investment opportunities

With the start of the global economic crisis, world foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows decreases by 16% in 2008, then dropped sharply by 37% in 2009 and gained a marginal 1% increase in 2010. The decrease was relatively more pronounced in the developed countries. For the first time, developing countries are expected to have absorbed more than half of global FDI flows in 2010.foreign direct, investment, FDI, economic crisis, Asia, Pacific, regional trade agreement,

Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Report 2011: Post-crisis trade and investment opportunities

Commercial services exports are slowly returning to their pre-crisis level, with global exports climbing by 8.3% from $3.4 trillion in 2009 to$3.7 trillion in 2010. Asia, and the Pacific, in particular developing Asia, is again leading the recovery, with a growth rate of more than 20% in 2010. This strong rise came after a slump in commercial services exports by almost 12% in 2009.Services, Trade, Trade, recovery, export, import, Asia, Pacific, international, tourism, computer, information, intraregional

Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Report 2011: Post-crisis trade and investment opportunities

List of tables on trade performance indicatorsTrade performance indicator, trade share, import, export, Asia, Pacific

Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Report 2011: Post-crisis trade and investment opportunities

The traditional developed economies of the Group of Three (G3)-the European Union, Japan and the United States- all face economic slowdown, and acceptance is growing that the Asia-Pacific region will be the world's next engine of economic growth. Developing economies in Asia and the Pacific are rapidly increasing their importance in the world economy, having performed robustly to make a quick recovery in 2010 and reach pre-crisis levels of economic activity while major industrial countries continue to struggle.Trade, Investment, Opportunities, European Union, Japan, United States, G3, Group of three, economic, growth, import, export, Asia, Pacific

Human population growth and the demographic transition

The world and most regions and countries are experiencing unprecedentedly rapid demographic change. The most obvious example of this change is the huge expansion of human numbers: four billion have been added since 1950. Projections for the next half century expect a highly divergent world, with stagnation or potential decline in parts of the developed world and continued rapid growth in the least developed regions. Other demographic processes are also undergoing extraordinary change: women's fertility has dropped rapidly and life expectancy has risen to new highs. Past trends in fertility and mortality have led to very young populations in high fertility countries in the developing world and to increasingly older populations in the developed world. Contemporary societies are now at very different stages of their demographic transitions. This paper summarizes key trends in population size, fertility and mortality, and age structures during these transitions. The focus is on the century from 1950 to 2050, which covers the period of most rapid global demographic transformation

Combating Poverty and Inequality

This document is part of a digital collection provided by the Martin P. Catherwood Library, ILR School, Cornell University, pertaining to the effects of globalization on the workplace worldwide. Special emphasis is placed on labor rights, working conditions, labor market changes, and union organizing.UNRISD_CombatingPovertyAndInequality.pdf: 36 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020

The Role of Civil Society in Policy Formulation and Service Provision

This document is part of a digital collection provided by the Martin P. Catherwood Library, ILR School, Cornell University, pertaining to the effects of globalization on the workplace worldwide. Special emphasis is placed on labor rights, working conditions, labor market changes, and union organizing.UNRISD_CivilSocietyPolicyFormation.pdf: 2456 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020

Water and Nutrition: Harmonizing actions for the United Nations Decade of Action on Nutrition and the United Nations Water Action Decade

Progress for both SDG 2 and SDG 6 has been unsatisfactory, with several indicators worsening over time, including an increase in the number of undernourished, overweight and obese people, as well as rapid increases in the number of people at risk of severe water shortages. This lack of progress is exacerbated by climate change and growing regional and global inequities in food and water security, including access to good quality diets, leading to increased violation of the human rights to water and food. Reversing these trends will require a much greater effort on the part of water, food security, and nutrition communities, including stronger performances by the United Nations Decade of Action on Nutrition and the United Nations International Decade for Action on Water for Sustainable Development. To date, increased collaboration by these two landmark initiatives is lacking, as neither work program has systematically explored linkages or possibilities for joint interventions. Collaboration is especially imperative given the fundamental challenges that characterize the promotion of one priority over another. Without coordination across the water, food security, and nutrition communities, actions toward achieving SDG2 on zero hunger may contribute to further degradation of the world’s water resources and as such, further derail achievement of the UN Decade of Action on Water and SDG 6 on water and sanitation. Conversely, actions to enhance SDG 6 may well reduce progress on the UN Decade of Action on Nutrition and SDG 2. This paper reviews these challenges as part of a broader analysis of the complex web of pathways that link water, food security and nutrition outcomes. Climate change and the growing demand for water resources are also considered, given their central role in shaping future water and nutrition security. The main conclusions are presented as three recommendations focused on potential avenues to deal with the complexity of the water-nutrition nexus, and to optimize outcomes