Over the past ten years economic growth in Asia has contributed to a reduction of poverty as well as fertility rates, and greater prosperity has contributed to gains in life expectancy. However, at present many workers still work in informal employment, frequently for long hours at little pay and without social protection coverage. A growing demand for social support, extending the coverage of social protection benefits and improving the job quality of workers will be among Asia’s major challenges in future. This report considers these challenges, providing policy examples from countries to illustrate good practice, including Bangladesh, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, Singapore and Viet Nam.
A dynamic factor model is applied to a large panel dataset of Singapore’s macroeconomic variables and global economic indicators with the initial objective of analysing business cycles in a small open economy. The empirical results suggest that four common factors – which can broadly be interpreted as world, regional, electronics and domestic economic cycles – capture a large proportion of the co-variation in the quarterly time series. The estimated factor model also explains well the observed fluctuations in real economic activity and price inflation, leading us to use it in forecasting Singapore’s business cycles. We find that the forecasts generated by the factors are generally more accurate than the predictions of univariate models and vector autoregressions that employ leading indicators.
Within the last decade, conversations about globalisation have shifted and evolved in several ways as countries have experienced increasing demographic changes. The heightened presence of non.native language learners (NNLL) moving within and across borders has implications for many areas of society, including education, social and health services, and national and international security. By exploring the academic literature base and collecting cross-cultural and cross-national data on current trends and experiences, we will be better equipped to ensure that our institutions and their constituencies are prepared to meet the needs and reap the rewards of multilingualism. The cases of Estonia and Singapore offer two lenses through which I examine how educational and linguistic policy can interact with other factors including immigration patterns, identity formation, language use, socio-economic development, and political policy.
The public finance system of Singapore consists of four “pillars”: the budget sector itself; the Central Provident Fund; the government investment agencies; and various special funds not consolidated into the budget. The budget process is characterised by close interministerial co-operation and the use of constitutional fiscal rules, spending ceilings for ministries (“block budgets”), across-the-board budget extractions (spending cuts), endowment funds, central manpower controls, and continual underspending. Parliament has a limited role. The President of the Republic has an important role as “fiscal guardian”. The article describes these particular features of the Singapore budget process, and discusses other elements of budget implementation and government management such as the organisational structure of the government, the execution of budget appropriations, personnel management, financial management and reporting, and performance and results initiatives.
This paper reviews the development and implementation of congestion control policies in Singapore since the introduction of the Area Licensing Scheme in 1975. It examines the city state’s experience of vehicle quotas, cordon charging and electronic road pricing. It also looks at developments in public transport and urban planning to improve accessibility and congestion control. Both public attitudes to congestion policies and their economic effects are discussed and analysed.
The Economic Outlook for Southeast Asia, China and India is a regular publication on regional economic growth, development and regional integration in Emerging Asia. It focuses on the economic conditions of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam. It also addresses relevant economic issues in China and India to fully reflect economic developments in the region.The Outlook provides an update of macroeconomic trends and challenges, country-specific structural policy notes and a thematic focus which varies in each volume. The Update of the Outlook has been published since 2018, following the Special Supplements of 2016 and 2017 editions, to ensure that the projections, data and analysis remain current and useful.
The Economic Outlook for Southeast Asia, China and India is a regular publication on regional economic growth, development and regional integration in Emerging Asia. It focuses on the economic conditions of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam. It also addresses relevant economic issues in China and India to fully reflect economic developments in the region. This November Update of the Outlook, following the Update 2020 released in July, presents a regional economic monitor, depicting the economic outlook and macroeconomic challenges in the region amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Economic Outlook for Southeast Asia, China and India is a bi-annual publication on regional economic growth, development and regional integration in Emerging Asia. It focuses on the economic conditions of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam. It also addresses relevant economic issues in China and India to fully reflect economic developments in the region.
The update of the Outlook comprises three main parts, each highlighting a particular dimension of recent economic developments in the region. The first part presents the regional economic monitor, depicting the economic outlook and macroeconomic challenges in the region. The second and third parts consist of special thematic chapters addressing major issues facing the region. The second chapter of this update focuses on the Covid-19 outbreak, discussing in particular the socio-economic impacts of the pandemic. An analysis of the quality of education in the region is discussed in the third chapter.
The Economic Outlook for Southeast Asia, China and India is a regular publication on regional economic growth, development and regional integration in Emerging Asia. It focuses on the economic conditions of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam. It also addresses relevant economic issues in China and India to fully reflect economic developments in the region. The Outlook comprises two main parts, each highlighting a particular dimension of recent economic developments in the region. The first part presents the regional economic monitor, depicting the economic outlook and macroeconomic challenges in the region. The second part consists of a special thematic chapter addressing a major issue facing the region. The 2021 edition of the Outlook addresses reallocation of resources to digitalisation in response to COVID-19, with special focuses on health, education and Industry 4.0. During the COVID-19 crisis, digitalisation has proved critical to ensuring the continuity of essential services. The use of e-commerce, digital health tools and on-line education all accelerated sharply during the pandemic in Emerging Asia. However, there is still a lot of work to be done, for the region to be able to get the full benefits of digitalisation.
The Economic Outlook for Southeast Asia, China and India is a regular publication on regional economic growth and development in Emerging Asia. It focuses on the economic conditions of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam, as well as China and India. It comprises two main parts. The first part presents the regional economic monitor, depicting the economic outlook and macroeconomic challenges in the region. The second part consists of special thematic chapters addressing a major issue facing the region. The 2022 edition addresses financing sustainable recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic is proving to be extremely costly, both economically and socially and sustainable financing solutions are crucial for an equitable and inclusive recovery. The report explores how governments can obtain additional financing by harnessing bond markets, and use green, social and sustainability bonds to achieve policy objectives.
The Economic Outlook for Southeast Asia, China and India is a regular publication on regional economic growth and development in Emerging Asia – Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam, as well as China and India. It comprises three parts: a regional economic monitor, special thematic chapters addressing a major issue facing the region, and a series of country notes.
The 2023 edition discusses the region’s economic outlook and macroeconomic challenges at a time of great uncertainty and a slowdown of the global economy, in particular owing to inflationary pressures, capital flow volatility and supply-side bottlenecks. The thematic chapters focus on reviving tourism after the pandemic. Tourism was among the sectors most affected by both the COVID-19 pandemic and responses to it. The report highlights the economic impact of tourism in the region and explores how the sector can be reshaped to regain its significant role in Emerging Asia. The interruption of tourism allowed countries in the region to consider reforms in the sector, including diversifying tourism markets and addressing labour market challenges, while catering to the new needs and preferences of the post-pandemic world, prioritising sustainable and environmentally responsible activities, and accelerating digitalisation.
The Economic Outlook for Southeast Asia, China and India is a regular publication on regional economic growth and development in Emerging Asia. It focuses on the economic conditions of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam. It also addresses relevant economic issues in China and India to fully reflect developments in the region. This Update presents the region’s economic outlook, depicting rapidly changing trends and macroeconomic challenges amidst external headwinds.
The future of Greece’s well-being will depend on improving educational performance to boost productivity and improve social outcomes. In the current economic context, with the need to get best value for spending, Greece must and can address inefficiencies in its education system.
The challenges are significant. For example, Greece lags behind many OECD countries in performance on PISA, including countries with the same or lower levels of expenditure per student as well as countries with the same and lower levels of economic development. Salary costs per student are above the OECD average, mostly because Greek teachers have less teaching time and Greece has smaller classes. A smaller percentage of students who enter tertiary education complete a first degree within the statutory study time than in any other country in Europe.
To address the challenges, the Greek government has established a bold agenda and sought advice from a task force on the development and implementation of reform proposals that reflect best practices in OECD countries. This report provides the outcomes of the work of the task force. It presents a roadmap for how the reforms can be successfully implemented, with pointers to relevant experience in other countries. As a contribution to the on-going policy discussions in Greece, it recommends specific short-, medium- and long-term actions that can improve efficiency in the country’s education system.
This report assesses the current state of connectivity in Southeast Asia and provides tailored recommendations for extending broadband access, focusing on five countries: Cambodia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam. The analysis builds upon the OECD Recommendation on Broadband Connectivity, which provides a reference for policy makers and regulatory authorities within and outside of the OECD. Using the principles of the Recommendation as a roadmap, countries may be better able to unleash the full potential of connectivity for the digital transformation and to ensure equal access to connectivity for all users.
This chapter examines the question of 21st century skills through the prism of a case study on Singapore. Certainly, this case is quite particular in many respects, including its emphasis on the design, implementation and evaluation of national master plans. The support to technology-based innovations, as well as their monitoring and assessment, have been playing an important role in these plans. This contribution discusses the different ways in which practitioners, researchers and policy makers have been involved in the process of documenting successful innovations and planning for scaling up. The authors suggest that careful attention should be paid to the translation process from the initiation of innovation to the implementation of innovation.