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.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had devastating consequences for progress toward gender equality in Asia. The UN Women’s Rapid Gender Assessment—which provides snapshots of how the region’s women and girls have experienced the pandemic—is helping expose the extent of these impacts and their implications for the region’s recovery.

Border closings and mobility restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic exposed vulnerabilities in global value chains, contributing to product shortages and sparking discussions about “reshoring” production. Beyond COVID-19, global value chains also face risks from geopolitical tensions and climate change.

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to transform social protection needs in Asia and the Pacific and globally. It has also elevated the importance of social protection reform and the development of emergency safety nets that can protect and support vulnerable groups and help reverse increasing inequality driven by the COVID-19 crisis.