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Begin New Search Topic Pandemic Political Geography Asia

1. A Future Projection of Post-Covid-19 in Japan: Universal Values and International Cooperation

Author:
Yukio Sakurai
Publication Date:
01-2023
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Rest: Journal of Politics and Development
Institution:
Centre for Strategic Research and Analysis (CESRAN)
Abstract:
This essay aims to clarify the most popular impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and examine a future projection of Post-COVID-19 in Japan. This is based on interdisciplinary studies, particularly the literature survey on global governance in English and Japanese. Japan has consistently lived after WWII under the principles of freedom, democracy, human rights, and the rule of law. Given the challenges caused by the pandemic, it is unpredictable how much conflict between multiple powers will hinder national security and economic globalization. The following five actions should be executed: Japan should participate in international research activities to envision a future society, Japan should adopt a unique future concept to address ageing populations and social security reform in their international cooperation, a review of neoliberalism, construction of a society that can respond to societal risks, and political leadership and freedom of speech to deal with serious social risks should be championed.
Topic:
Health, Governance, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Japan and Asia

2. The Post COVID-19 and RCEP: Pandemic Recovery in East Asia

Author:
Shandre Mugan Thangavelu, Shujiro Urata, and Dionisius Narjoko
Publication Date:
08-2022
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA)
Abstract:
The paper examines the impact of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) on the COVID-19 pandemic recovery of the East Asian countries. Recent studies highlight the positive gains from the RCEP agreement for all 15 of its member countries (Itakura, 2022, Petri and Plummer, 2020; Park, 2022). However, the recovery will be not even across East Asia. The East Asian countries of China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea (CJK) are likely to have the largest gains, as these countries dominate the regional global value chain (GVC) activities. The ASEAN least developed countries of Cambodia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), and Myanmar also experience positive gains from RCEP, but need to undertake deeper structural reforms to fully benefit from the agreement. The RCEP framework has elements that will be crucial for the post-pandemic recovery and regional transformation: (i) accelerating and enhancing GVC activities through the single rule-of-origin framework for the 15 RCEP member countries and CJK (China, Japan, and Korea) effects; (ii) services liberalisation and digital transformation in the key services trade of e-commerce, financial, professional, and telecommunications services; (iii) economic cooperation amongst the 15 RCEP member countries to address key contingency issues such as mass vaccination and health infrastructure, protocols for the movement of people, and trade capacity building for ASEAN least developed countries; and (iv) the ‘living’ nature of the RCEP agreement will be able to create a wider regional integration agenda to address key contemporary issues such as environment and climate change, skills development, green transformation, and developing digital and smart urban centres. ASEAN centrality, as highlighted by the RCEP framework, is critical for the post-pandemic recovery and structural transformation of the region.
Topic:
Regional Cooperation, Recovery, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Asia and ASEAN

3. COVID-19, Telework Patterns Within a City, and Changes in Urban Structure – Preliminary Findings

Author:
Ikumo Isono and Kazuhiro Nara
Publication Date:
04-2022
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA)
Abstract:
With the coronavirus disease (COVID-19, the spread of teleworking means that people do not necessarily have to live near their place of work. Will the role of cities change in this case? Teleworking patterns within a city matter. According to data from the Tokyo metropolitan area, people who live in a particular part of the city or work in the city centre are more likely to telework. Areas with a higher proportion of managers and professionals have higher rates of telework. Those who can telework may move from central Tokyo to other parts of the country, but the destination is mainly the outskirts of Tokyo. In the suburban areas, there was a positive correlation between the rate of increase in the number of migrants from the 23 wards of Tokyo and the teleworking rate. It is reasonable to assume that areas offering a good living environment are unevenly distributed, that the telework rate is high in these areas, and that the number of migrants is increasing in these areas. The government’s story that more people will move to rural areas as a result of widespread telework may not be so simple.
Topic:
Labor Policies, Pandemic, COVID-19, and Remote Work
Political Geography:
Japan and Asia

4. COVID-19, Long-Term Care, and Migration in Asia

Author:
Azusa Sato and Helen Dempster
Publication Date:
05-2022
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development (CGD)
Abstract:
Countries throughout Asia are experiencing rapidly aging populations and increasing life expectancy, leading to a large and growing demand for long-term care (LTC) services. Despite the shift to providing care within communities and at home, governments are struggling to provide enough LTC to meet demand. A large part of the constraint is the lack of available workers. While many countries in the region have migration schemes to bring in LTC workers, they are insufficient. At the same time, the COVID-19 pandemic has had an outsized impact on older people throughout the region, and has exposed deficiencies in the structure of migrant care labor. This report explores the impact of these three dynamics—LTC, migration, and COVID-19—on the current and future LTC workforce in the Asian region. It showcases 11 countries of origin and destination, including the demand for and supply of LTC, how it is financed and resourced, and where and how migrant workers are sourced. It puts forward recommendations for how governments throughout Asia can ethically and sustainably increase LTC worker migration; improve wages, working conditions, and recruitment processes within the sector; and learn lessons from COVID-19.
Topic:
Migration, Labor Issues, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Asia

5. Beyond India’s Lockdown: PMGKY Benefits During the COVID-19 Crisis and the State of Digital Payments

Author:
Alan Gelb, Anurodh Giri, Anit Mukherjee, Ritesh Rautela, Mitul Thapliyal, and Brian Webster
Publication Date:
04-2022
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development (CGD)
Abstract:
India imposed a lock-down in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 and began a gradual re-opening in June. A telephonic survey in April examined the early effectiveness of information and the massive PMGKY social protection program (Policy Paper 217). This paper analyzes a second-round survey, conducted six months later. Logistical and information constraints had relaxed, and incomes and jobs had begun to stabilize for some. There were not strong indications of differential access to benefits by income or location, but constraints to providing public employment had tightened in the face of increased demand, resulting in greater job rationing. Men made more use of digital channels, with a clear smartphone ownership hierarchy between men and women; this divide carried over into the growing autonomous use of digital payments which is conditioned on access to smartphones. Survey results confirm strong local agglomeration effects in digital payments, mirroring the general pattern with higher use in states hosting India’s major technology hubs. At the same time, trust-based concerns reduced the use of assisted digital cash-outs through agents.
Topic:
Economics, Pandemic, COVID-19, and Digitalization
Political Geography:
India and Asia

6. Asia’s Extreme Inequality Crisis: Building back fairer after COVID-19

Author:
Matthew Martin
Publication Date:
09-2022
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
COVID-19 has exacerbated Asia’s crisis of extreme inequality. This is undermining growth and preventing poverty eradication. Asian governments have done almost nothing to combat this rise in inequality and are constrained in their policy choices as debt burdens grow and post-COVID austerity begins. A few Asian governments have done a lot to fight inequality during COVID-19 through equitable public services, progressive taxation and enhanced labour rights, especially for women, but most have not. This paper lays out a comprehensive set of measures that Asian governments, the Asian Development Bank and the international community could use to significantly reduce inequality, eradicate poverty and accelerate growth in Asia.
Topic:
Poverty, Governance, Pandemic, COVID-19, Banking, and Equality
Political Geography:
Asia

7. India’s Approach to Food Security Resilience Amid COVID-19: Relevance to ASEAN?

Author:
Jose M. L. Montesclaros
Publication Date:
05-2022
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies
Abstract:
The International Monetary Fund recently lauded India’s feat of minimising the COVID-19 pandemic’s impacts on extreme poverty, owing to its food subsidy policies; in contrast, more than 4.7 million people fell into extreme poverty among ASEAN member states (AMS). This NTS Insight highlights relevant aspects of India’s food security approaches which allowed it to provide encompassing food subsidies amidst disruptions. It then assesses their relevance to AMS in facing future disruptions. India’s feat built on its digital identity and digital ration card systems, to minimise leakages in subsidised food. These are supported by India’s food procurement and distribution/stockpile management systems for achieving stockpile targets. Its government guarantees to purchase whatever crops farmers produce, at a pre-announced price. On surface, India’s feat seems to contradict AMS’ purely laissez-faire approach of leaving supply outcomes to the market. In reality, India’s farmers are able to sell their crops in open markets, and government guarantees only supplement the market, to ensure sufficient food stocks and reduce reliance on higher-priced imported crops. As such, it is worth exploring whether more can be done in improving AMS’ resilience amidst growing food supply chain instability, including strengthening systems for digital identity, distribution, stockpile management and procurement.
Topic:
Food Security, Pandemic, Resilience, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Asia and ASEAN

8. India’s Food Security Resilience: Some Tips for ASEAN?

Author:
Jose M. L. Montesclaros
Publication Date:
05-2022
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies
Abstract:
The IMF recently lauded India’s food subsidies in helping minimise COVID-19’s impacts on food and economic insecurity. What are the lessons for ASEAN member states, where extreme poverty increased by 4.7 million amid the pandemic?
Topic:
Regional Cooperation, Food, Food Security, Pandemic, and Resilience
Political Geography:
Asia and ASEAN

9. Planetary Health: Reflections from Asia

Author:
Margareth Sembiring
Publication Date:
06-2022
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies
Abstract:
Planetary Health is a concept that advocates the care of the planet for human own survivability. It underscores the health implications of environmental degradation brought about by human activities and development progress, and calls for a systemic approach that considers and addresses socio-environmental trade-offs of certain policy and/or economic objectives. In view of multiple crises that have been happening in recent years – from the COVID-19 pandemic to the war in Ukraine – which have further negatively affected the environment, understanding how Planetary Health can be applied to address continuing environmental decline is critical. Planetary Health is a relatively new term in Asia. Drawing from the discussions in the 6th NTS-Asia Consortium Annual Conference in April 2022, this NTS Insight maps the different ways Indonesia, India, Bangladesh, Japan, and China engage Planetary Health in their specific contexts. The interpretations of the concept are likely to influence the trajectory of its implementation.
Topic:
Health, International Cooperation, Recovery, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Asia

10. Global Food Insecurity – Food Import: Reducing ASEAN’s Dependency

Author:
Paul Teng
Publication Date:
07-2022
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies
Abstract:
The current food insecurity caused by the three Cs — COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and conflicts — has highlighted the reliance of many ASEAN states on imported staple food and feed. ASEAN needs to seriously re-examine its priorities to reduce import dependency.
Topic:
Climate Change, Regional Cooperation, Food, Food Security, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Asia and ASEAN