News Forum - ADB reports Southeast Asian countries well-positioned to bounce back from COVID-19

[Thaiger]

Press Release The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic pushed 4.7 million people in Southeast Asia into extreme poverty in 2021, as 9.3 million jobs disappeared, compared with a baseline no-COVID scenario, according to a new Asian Development Bank (ADB) report presented at the Southeast Asia Development Symposium (SEADS). The Omicron wave could cut the region’s economic growth by as much as 0.8 percentage points in 2022, says the report, Southeast Asia: Rising from the Pandemic. The region’s economic output in 2022 is expected to remain more than 10% below the baseline no-COVID scenario. Among the most affected are unskilled workers and […]

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[Soidog]

Typical propaganda by a bank with vested interest. Every country could offer up the same clap trap. What is required is action and not words. Every country will eventually “bounce back”. The real question is over what timescale and how big the bounce back will be. Over the coming months and years we will see articles from Thai government departments claiming 3% increases in this, 25% increase in that. Very rarely do this articles show figures compared to pre-pandemic levels or where they would be had the pandemic been brought under control sooner by the governments.  A typical example in the Bangkok Post today stating Thai rice exports could reach 8 million tonnes this year. So what! In 2018 they exported 11 Million Tonnes and in 2019 almost 10 Million Tonnes. The reality is that Thai rice exports have continued to suffer for a number of years. Thai controlled media peddle this nonsense of numbers without context. 

[palooka]

It notes an economic recovery across the region, with most countries seeing visits to retail and recreational areas rising by 161% in the two-year period ending 16 February 2022. 

Would love hear more details of where and how they managed this.

The report recommends that countries pursue structural reforms to boost competitiveness and productivity. That can include simplifying business procedures.

Thailand get rid of this infatuation with multiple copies of everything and save a small fortune in paper. Get with it, this is the digital age.