Challenges before Asian countries in the year 2009

Well; this is an Article I published on Helium - an Online forum for publishing your articles . This deals with the challenges the Asian countries face in this year 2009 . Here we go : Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area (or 29.9% of its land area) . It is also home to 60 % of World's population (approx 4 Billion) . Now, how would one define Asia ? If you are from UK you might call someone from South Asia - India,Bangladesh,Pakistan,Sri Lanka , Nepal or Bhutan as Asian . People in USA generally call Japanese ,Chinese and Korean as Asians . The people from middle-east or West Asia with Saudi Arabia,Kuwait,Israel ,Jordan etc are normally considered as separate in terms of their different History and Political scenario . The Central Asia covering former Soviet Unions such as Kazakhsthan , Turkmenistan etc are geographically in Asia .Yet ;these are considered closer to Europe due to integration of erstwile Soviet Union. One may perceive that issues , developments as well as challenges before an Asian country such as China would have little link with other countries except for its neighbours . However;in an increasing global world things are different .Foremost would be the economic linkages . With USA in the midst of a severe economic downturn (in fact a recession) , China is suffering with lower exports and massive job losses. This has grave implications for investments in other Asian countries ranging from Pakistan to Western Asian countries . Chinese government ,though has risen to the occasion with a big Financial Stimulus of $586 Billion . Hopefully;this would help not only China but also the countries in which it is a big investor as well as importer of goods .

=> East Asian Countries
Japan and South Korea have problems similar to those of China and USA . Japan is perhaps worse off in terms of economic downturn . The Japanese bank has acted with measures which would hopefully yield good dividends .

=> Challenges of Terrorism and War dangers The countries of India and Pakistan are going through a very turbulent phase in their relationship . There was a danger of war between the two countries after the 26th November attack on Major Buildings in Mumbai,India . Things seemed to have cooled a bit due to diplomatic efforts by India , USA as well as UK . However ;terror strikes are one of the biggest threat to all the South Asian countries ;including Sri Lanka which is still seeing fighting between Army and LTTE . India and Pakistan having Nuclear Weapons increases the risks all the more. Any wrong move on the part of any of these could have far reaching consequences. The Israel - Palestine Issue and the recent Gaza Strip Offensive by Israel is proving to be a major painful issue . It would need a strong Political will by both Palestinian and Israeli Governments . Hopefully,USA under Barrack Obama would aid in a peaceful resolution . Terrorism is also impacting China which has seen Armed struggle in one of its North-West provinces as well as Indonesia .

=> Economic Slump
Economies across Asia are facing major slump . Property prices are getting down from Tokyo to Dubia and Shanghai to Mumbai . Spendings on Automobiles , New Houses as well as Consumer Durables is down . However ;this is also an opportunity for Asian countries to increase trade in Agriculture , Processed Foods and other things among themselves to compensate for decresing demand in Western countries . Moreover;Governments of India ,China , UAE etc have been introducing measures to stimulate economic growth and spending in these days of economic gloom and reduced consumer confidence .

=> Impact of Environmental Changes
Gloabal Warming ,Environmental Pollution and resulting environmental changes affect many of Asian countries . India and Bangladesh had big floods in recent years . China had to adopt special Even-odd Days Traffic measures before Beijing Olympics to reduce the problem of Smog and Traffic Pollution . Euphrates and Tigris rivers in Iraq also face problems due to lack of Maintenance . Construction of major dams in China too have attracted their fair share of controversy .

=> Unresolved problems from the past
A number of people in Asian countries ;especially India , Bangladesh as well as small pockets in other countries still do not have adequate meals .Health facilities are severely lacking . Acess to potable water still remains a dream .

=> Summary
True ,Asia has made giant leaps over the last 60 years .India and China are 2 major growing countries - both in economic and Political Terms .Still;Asia has a long way to go . A Major thrust to Intra-Region Co-operation could be a major stimulus to combat the issues facing Asian countries .

=>Some statistics and facts were taken from 1) http://www.iht.com/articles/20 08/11/09/business/yuan.php 2) Wikipedia article on Asia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A sia 3) ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=38 928