Vietnam's economy expanded more than five percent in the first three months of the year, the government said Tuesday thanks to a pick-up in exports as the country emerges from the worst of the global pandemic, though officials warned of headwinds.The ASEAN member state has long been a success story among Asian economies, posting growth of seven percent in 2019.But growth came in at just 2.9 percent in 2020 as the pandemic shut most of the world down, while last year saw just 2.6 percent

Everyone on the planet should be covered by an early warning system against extreme weather and climate-related disasters within five years, the United Nations (UN) secretary general has said.About a third of people around the world are not now covered by early warning systems, but in Africa the problem is greater, with about six in 10 people lacking such warnings.As climate breakdown takes hold, more people are likely to be affected by extreme weather, including flash floods, heatwaves, more

The World Bank’s Global Economic Prospects (GEP) report, published twice a year, is the most important source for evaluating the current and future outlook for emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs). The recently released June edition is especially significant because of the warnings it contains. Someone reading this report too quickly could easily miss the bad news, because, as with all publications by international organizations, it comes sugar-coated.

The global infrastructure plan announced by G7 leaders aims to offer developing nations a credible alternative to China's much-criticised Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) – but it faces major hurdles on the ground, especially if Beijing's hiccups are any indication. United States (US) President Joe Biden was able to convince the G7 to sign onto the initiative, drawing allies into Washington's strategic rivalry with Beijing, under a plan titled, "Build Back Better Wo

Although we have come a long way in the fight against COVID-19, the only thing that will alter the course of the pandemic decisively is a genuine act of global solidarity.

The COVID-19 pandemic will not truly end until everyone has access to vaccines, including people in the poorest countries. Worldwide vaccination offers the best hope for stopping the spread of infections, saving lives, and protecting livelihoods. People cannot reach their potential until they can again study, work, travel, and socialise in the confident knowledge that they are safe from COVID-19.

With over seven billion humans inhabiting our crowded planet, forests have mostly disappeared, animal species have gone extinct and the Earth’s atmosphere keeps getting dangerously warmer by the day. The number of humans is expected to grow to nine billion people by 2050 and reach 11 billion by 2100, according to the United Nations (UN).

The world has received the best possible gift for the coming year. The development of safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines in such a short time is something close to a medical miracle and portends an end to the crisis that dominated 2020. But the pace at which we will end the pandemic depends on three factors. The first is the extent of continued compliance with recommended safety measures such as mask wearing, social distancing, crowd avoidance, and hand washing.

ASEAN is set to become the world’s fourth largest economy by 2030, and it is a transition that will be championed by an increasingly tech-savvy younger population which is rapidly rising up the socio-economic ladder. ASEAN’s digital economy – a collective term for all economic transactions that occur online – will progress in hand with this, and is expected to expand 6.4 times from US$31 billion in 2015 to US$197 billion by 2025 according to the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN

The COVID-19 crisis has laid bare the importance of access to clean water, sanitation, and hygiene. As we all know now, hand washing is one of the best frontline defenses against the virus.