The Public-Private Partnership Operational Plan 2012-2020 provides a consistent analytical and operational framework for scaling up public-private partnerships (PPPs) in support of Strategy 2020. The PPP operations of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) are based on four pillars: (i) advocacy and capacity development, (ii) enabling environment, (iii) project development, and (iv) project financing. Applying PPP principles holistically to ADB operations holds the potential to vastly improve the quality of design and outputs of PPP projects in support of Strategy 2020 targets. It also provides ADB with an opportunity to significantly leverage its limited resources in attracting private sector investments and commercial financing to meet the Asia and Pacific region's huge and growing infrastructure investment needs.

Judging by all the hoopla surrounding business plans, you'd think the only things standing between would-be entrepreneurs and spectacular success are glossy five-color charts, bundles of meticulous-looking spreadsheets, and decades of month-by-month financial projections. Yet nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, often the more elaborately crafted a business plan, the more likely the venture is to flop. Why? Most plans waste too much ink on numbers and devote too little to information that really matters to investors. The result? Investors discount them. In How to Write a Great Business Plan, William A. Sahlman shows how to avoid this all-too-common mistake by ensuring that your plan assesses the factors critical to every new venture: The people—the individuals launching and leading the venture and outside parties providing key services or important resources The opportunity—what the business will sell and to whom, and whether the venture can grow and how fast The context—the regulatory environment, interest rates, demographic trends, and other forces shaping the venture's fate Risk and reward—what can go wrong and right, and how the entrepreneurial team will respond Timely in this age of innovation, How to Write a Great Business Plan helps you give your new venture the best possible chances for success.

The publication guides the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in meeting the recommendations of the midterm review of the ADB Strategy 2020 to provide increased emphasis on food security and agriculture productivity. The Plan, which builds on the earlier Operational Plan for Sustainable Food Security in Asia and the Pacific (2010–2014), focuses ADB agriculture and natural resources (ANR) sector operations in four priority areas: (i) increasing the productivity and reducing pre- and postharvest losses of food crops; (ii) improving market connectivity and value chain linkages; (iii) enhancing food safety, quality, and nutrition; and (iv) enhancing management and climate resilience of natural resources. The outcome will be improved focus and quality of ADB ANR operations in meeting developing member country needs toward safe, nutritious, and affordable food for all.

The Asia and the Pacific region is clearly at the crossroads on the choices it makes for addressing this water crisis. It is opportune for the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to take stock of its water operations, identify the current and emerging water issues, and determine the best ways in which it can support the investments, knowledge, capacities, and technologies needed by each developing member country to address issues to 2020 and beyond. The development of this Water Operational Plan 2011–2020 incorporates comments and suggestions from a range of stakeholders within and outside ADB. This Plan provides guidance to ADB's regional departments in defining their respective in-country water operations.

The shift to a parliamentary democracy in 2010 provided an impetus for the Kyrgyz Republic to reform the economy. Despite the recent progress, the Kyrgyz Republic faces significant economic challenges, which will require actions on many fronts. Improving the business climate, governance, and institutions remains a key pillar of sustainable and inclusive growth. Restoring fiscal sustainability will be essential, as the budget has become more dependent on external assistance since the 2009 global and 2010 domestic crises. Tight monetary policy continues to be warranted to keep inflation at bay.

This 2013 Article IV Consultation highlights that economic growth in Solomon Islands is slowly rebounding from the slowdown of the first half of 2013, when agriculture, logging, and gold production fell, owing mainly to unfavorable weather developments, lower terms of trade, and one-off factors. Real GDP growth is projected at 2.9 percent for 2013 and 4 percent for 2014. Risks are tilted to the downside, including from lower external demand and grants. Inflation has stabilized at about 6.5 percent and is expected to fall gradually as agricultural prices react to the recovery of production.