COVID-19 pandemic-induced school closures have made technology use an integral component of education. However, significant knowledge gaps exist between policy makers, practitioners, and other stakeholders on how technology can reduce a teacher’s workload, provide differentiated teaching, support efficient school management and teacher professional development, and bring positive social change.

This Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI) Featured Speaker Webinar presented Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin E. Diokno. He discussed the macroeconomic outlook, financial technology (fintech) development, and sustainable recovery in the Philippines and broader Asia and the Pacific in the face of new uncertainties, with ADBI Dean Tetsushi Sonobe and experts.

ADB undertakes Business Opportunities Seminars (BOSs) in its members to improve the interest and ability of eligible suppliers to locate ADB business opportunities, prepare high-quality and responsive bids, and understand ADB’s procurement and anticorruption procedures.

This webinar highlighted key takeaways from the new ADBI Press book Strengthening Environmental, Social, and Governance Investment Under COVID-19, to be discussed by a coeditor and panel of contributors.

Entrepreneurial firms are important enablers of economic resilience during crises. In this webinar, experts shared insights from a 2-year longitudinal study from four Asian countries and the UK on how entrepreneurs can build entrepreneurial resilience in their businesses. In addition, they discussed how policymakers can facilitate and harness entrepreneurial resilience for greater economic resilience.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has heightened uncertainty and rattled commodity markets, even as the COVID-19 pandemic persists. Recovery in developing Asia continues, but it now faces significant global headwinds—even as many economies still lag behind their pre-pandemic trends.

The Asian Development Outlook 2022 shed light on these developments and the region’s outlook.

Infrastructure development could provide an important boost to COVID-19 recovery among developing Asian economies but will require financing solutions that address growing constraints on the use of public funds for projects due to the pandemic. New funding sources are particularly vital for tackling the region’s sustainable infrastructure investment gap, which is equal to 2.4% of GDP and includes financing for climate mitigation and adaptation.