"This report shows how smart trade and investment policies, and regulatory cooperation in the Asia and Pacific region can help economies tackle climate change, recover from the pandemic, and support resilient and sustainable development.

Analysing topics including global value chains, investment, the movement of people, and regional cooperation initiatives, it outlines the economic and environmental challenges the region currently faces. It explores how trade and investment policies can support climate action and highlights why a joined-up approach is essential to help deepen the digital economy, strengthen supply chains and foster greener businesses, markets, and trade."

"Central banks have been eying the emergence of privately issued digital currencies with a mix of excitement and anxiety and some began experimenting with their own versions of crypto: central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). Advocates say CBDCs offer an alternative to private digital currencies that will enable central banks to retain their control over national monetary supplies, better combat money laundering and fraud, and even advance financial inclusion.

Results from the 2022 OECD survey on data sharing frameworks

Data sharing arrangements are evolving from open banking to open finance. This next stage of the evolution builds upon existing frameworks to expand data access and data source sharing beyond payment/transaction data, while also including other areas of financial activity (e.g. insurance). This paper analyses the different types of data sharing frameworks currently available in OECD and non-OECD member countries. It examines the specific rules and conditions of such frameworks around data access and sharing, consumer safeguards, and operational and technical specifications. It also discusses learnings from existing frameworks on the impact that such arrangements have had on customers and financial markets.

"We quantify the commute time savings associated with work from home, drawing on data for 27 countries. The average daily time savings when working from home is 72 minutes in our sample. We estimate that work from home saved about two hours per week per worker in 2021 and 2022, and that it will save about one hour per week per worker after the pandemic ends. Workers allocate 40 percent of their time savings to their jobs and about 11 percent to caregiving activities. People living with children allocate more of their time savings to caregiving."

"The report provides an overview of policy and market practice to enhance transparency, integrity, and efficiency in sustainable finance and to foster the market’s development. It discusses efforts to align taxonomies and standards; support transition finance; adapt to the trend toward environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investments; and implement information disclosure and integrity requirements."

"Nearly 500 million micro and small enterprises (MSEs) are estimated to be operating around the world. Access to credit and other financial services is critical to the growth and sustainability of these businesses, and consequentially to the low-income and vulnerable populations which rely on MSEs for their livelihoods. Yet despite decades of efforts and some notable successes in expanding MSE finance, the credit gap remains an estimated 4.9 trillion U.S. dollars.

"Data have become a key input into the production of many goods and services. But just how important? What is the value of data – their contribution to economic growth and well-being? This report discusses different approaches to data valuation, their advantages and shortcomings and their applicability in different contexts. It argues that the value of data depends to a large extent on the data governance framework determining how they can be created, shared and used.

"IMPLEMENTING BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT REFORMS FOR ECONOMIC RECOVERY

Mongolia’s economic growth performance has been impressive though volatile in the last decade. Despite significant progress, Mongolia needs to strengthen the business enabling environment for a level-playing field and a more productive private sector beyond mining. The Government of Mongolia (GoM) has recognized the need for a more conducive investment climate and implemented several significant reforms. The recently adopted New Recovery Policy (NRP) aims to further address binding constraints to medium-term economic development. Even though the business environment is only one of the elements of a country’s competitiveness, it often “sets the tone” for an attractive investment climate. The quality of the business environment has also become a critical element of the competition between countries aiming to offer an attractive legal environment for investors.

"Addressing the climate crisis requires the net zero transition of millions of SMEs globally. SMEs have a significant aggregate environmental footprint and need to adopt cleaner business models. As eco-entrepreneurs and eco-innovators, they also have a key role to play in devising innovative climate solutions. Access to finance is essential for SME investments in net zero, but small businesses face considerable challenges in tapping into the growing pool of sustainable finance.

"Asia has experienced widespread transformation and growth, accompanied by increased demographic pressure, greater intensification of agricultural production, industrialization, and urbanization. This economic growth has been very resource- and carbon-intensive, while climate change has triggered or exacerbated behaviors and defense mechanisms that have come at the expense of the natural environment.

"A global pandemic, supply-chain disruption, extreme weather, war in Europe, forced migration on a massive scale, rocketing gas prices, high inflation, debt burdens, reshoring, friendshoring… It is clear that there will be no going back to the pre-pandemic “business as usual”. This year’s report examines the tectonic changes that the EBRD regions face and presents a wealth of analysis to inform public policy and business decision-making."

"Rural development is central to realizing the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agenda because nearly 80 percent of the world’s poor live in rural areas (UNDESA 2021). Moreover, rural populations have less access to education, health, electricity, sanitation, and other services, leading to marked rural-urban disparities, discontent, and discord.

It is widely accepted that financial services for the poor and excluded is a key enabler in advancing several SDGs. However, increasing access to, and usage of, financial services in rural areas is not easy.