Asian Development Bank

He also stressed the importance of arriving at a peaceful resolution of the problem through negotiations and expressed optimism about the role that ASEAN could play as an intermediary—helping to address both humanitarian, economic and security concerns in the region. The 29th ASEAN Chiefs of Police Conference was held in Hanoi, Vietnam, on May. Among other subjects, the conference debated and adopted resolutions regarding drugs trafficking, terrorism, arms smuggling and human trafficking. Particular attention was paid to the issue of nations providing “mutual assistance” to each other to deal with these problems.

On 2 April, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel joined defense ministers from the 10 Asia-Pacific countries for an unofficial meeting. The purpose of the meeting was to strengthen and “rebalance” the relationship between the United States and ASEAN. On 8 October, the Republic of the Union of Myanmar delivered a statement on behalf of ASEAN during the opening statements for the General Assembly First Committee.

Nations like Bangladesh have emerged as major exporters of textile products and have benefited from lower prices of cotton. However, while many energy-hungry nations such as India have efficiently used the recent low cost of oil to stockpile huge inventories of oil for future use, rising energy prices present long-term downside risks. The primary South Asian countries include India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Sri Lanka, as well as smaller nations including Nepal, Bhutan, and the Maldives. Since most of the inhabitants (85%) live in the European part of the country, Russia is listed in our overview of Europe.

Countries & Regions

Today, Asian countries rank as some of the top producers of many agricultural, forest, fishing, mining, and industrial products. This increased production has brought both extreme wealth and negative environmental impacts to the continent. The geographic term “Asia” was originally used by ancient Greeks to describe the civilizations east of their empire. Ancient Asian peoples, however, saw themselves as a varied and diverse mix of cultures—not a collective group.

Asia

In addition, the peoples of Asia have established the broadest variety of human adaptation found on any of the continents. Dubai’s rapid growth, warm climate, and luxurious lifestyle have attracted many foreigners to the city. Known as the “shopping capital of the Middle East,” Dubai has more than 70 shopping malls. Dubai has also been referred to as the “Expat Capital of the World” because of the foreign majority that lives in the city.

Get information on country economic data and analysis, development assistance, and regional initiatives. Outside Southeast Asia, such as in Japan and the United States of America, very rarely, specialization in Southeast Asian studies, or components of, has been considered highly desired in the job market of the public sector. Perhaps having a graduate-level qualification in Southeast Asian studies is more marketable in the public sector especially in government of semi-government bodies that deals with diplomatic relations or intelligence. It was the success of Vietnamese and Chinese innovatory public health policies that served as models for the World Health Organization's primary health care approach and goal of ‘Health for All by Year 2000’ enunciated in the Alma Ata Declaration of 1978. Since then all Southeast Asian countries have instituted some kind of PHC care system, and at least formal support for PHC principles of equity, popular participation, and affordable and culturally appropriate health care.

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These are malaria and HIV/AIDS; the one is resurgent and the other is emergent. Governments of sending countries vary considerably in the efforts they have made to protect their nationals abroad. The Philippines, for example, leads the way in this area but even so significant exploitation still occurs. The issues of protection of nationals overseas is most pressing but governments find it difficult to interfere in the affairs of other countries. Accordingly, some of the most effective protection comes from the activities of nongovernment organizations and through informal networks established by the migrants.

This support was influenced in part by political unrest during the 1970s and by demands to redistribute wealth and income to satisfy the ‘basic needs’ of the poor . However, the level of political commitment to PHC throughout the region has been weak, except in Vietnam. The thriving of such organizations clearly is related to the failure of documented migration systems and enhanced policing of migration is unlikely to solve the problem of undocumented migration. Improvement of official migration systems must be part of the increasing international effort to combat the people smuggling and trafficking which is especially rife in South and Southeast Asia. In countries of origin there is a need for information programs which provide potential migrants with detailed, accurate information about the costs of the migration process and the nature of the experience at the destination. The pressing issue of protection of migrants and migrant workers from the region is related to that of controlling the intermediaries in the migration process.