ASEAN+3 Bond Market Guide is a comprehensive explanation of the region's bond markets. It provides information such as the history, legal and regulatory framework, specific characteristics of the market, trading and transaction (including settlement systems), and other relevant information. The Bond Market Guide 2018 for Cambodia is an outcome of the support and contributions of ASEAN+3 Bond Market Forum members and experts, particularly from Cambodia.

This report contains the comprehensive reports of the ASEAN+3 Bond Market Forum Sub-Forum 1 (SF1) and Sub-Forum 2 (SF2). The SF1 report (Volume 1) analyzes the harmonization and standardization of the existing bond markets in the ASEAN+3. It also contains the individual market guides of 11 economies under the ASEAN+3 Bond Market Forum (ABMF). The SF2 report (Volume 2) provides an overview of the ASEAN+3 bond markets and their infrastructures, as well as issues confronted by each bond market in the region. It also presents bond-market infrastructure diagrams, domestic bond transaction flows, and cross-border bond transaction flows, which can help the reader to visually navigate the existing bond market infrastructures in the region. The report is the product of the collaborative efforts of the National Members and Experts and International Experts of the ABMF in cooperation with the Asian Development Bank's Office of Regional Economic Integration.

The ASEAN+3 Bond Market Guide series provides country-specific information on the investment climate, rules, laws, opportunities, and characteristics of local bond markets in Asia and the Pacific. It aims to help bond market issuers, investors, and financial intermediaries understand the local context and encourage greater participation in the region’s rapidly developing bond markets. This edition focuses on the Inter-Bank Bond Market in the People’s Republic of China, which is one of the country’s most important bond markets and one of only two that are accessible to foreign investment.

The annual Asian Development Outlook analyzes economic performance in the past year and offers forecasts for the next 2 years for the 45 economies in Asia and the Pacific that make up developing Asia. Growth prospects in the region are upbeat, buoyed by favorable demand at home and abroad. A strong performance in 2017 reflected a surge in exports, which will likely abate this year and next, and rapidly expanding domestic demand. While the outlook is for steady growth, risks to it are decidedly on the downside: Trade friction could weaken recently deepened trade links, tightening US monetary policy could diminish investment in developing Asia, and rising domestic private debt may hamper growth. New technologies drive higher productivity, the foundation for economic growth, better-paid jobs, and poverty reduction. The latest technologies in robotics and artificial intelligence may threaten some jobs, however, and leave less-skilled workers behind. To maximize gains in productivity while safeguarding social welfare, governments in developing Asia should protect workers but not preserve particular jobs. Meanwhile, they should facilitate the countervailing forces in new technologies that generate new jobs. Dealing with the downsides of new technology requires synchronized effort on skills development, labor regulation, social protection, and income redistribution.

The global economy has experienced four waves of rapid debt accumulation over the past 50 years. The first three debt waves ended with financial crises in many emerging market and developing economies. During the current wave, which started in 2010, the increase in debt in these economies has already been larger, faster, and broader-based than in the previous three waves. Current low interest rates mitigate some of the risks associated with high debt. However, emerging market and developing economies are also confronted by weak growth prospects, mounting vulnerabilities, and elevated global risks. A menu of policy options is available to reduce the likelihood that the current debt wave will end in crisis and, if crises do take place, will alleviate their impact.

This report presents a comprehensive analysis of the use and structure of corporate bond markets in Asia.