Crawford School of Public Policy

The complex policy problems facing developing and lower-middle income countries in Asia have evolved since The Australian National University (ANU) was first established in 1946. What remains unchanged is the University’s continuing impact in the region through our expert analysis, research and policy engagement.

With the COVID-19 global pandemic dominating Asia’s headlines over the past 18 months, some of the region’s most critical policy issues have flown under the radar.

While case numbers and vaccination programs across the region have rightly attracted attention, policymakers are working behind the scenes on many of the problems they were facing before the pandemic, often in worsening conditions.

What’s more, many of these problems are having their biggest impact - and some of the biggest gains are to be made - in parts of Asia that are too often ignored in policy discussions.

This is why Policy Forum is launching a new In Focus: Developing Asia blog series to address the region’s most pressing policy problems.

Policy Forum is an ANU Crawford School of Public Policy initiative that publishes original essays, podcasts, opinions and ideas on public policy challenges throughout the region, and around the world.

In Focus: Developing Asia Guest Editor Professor Sango Mahanty said the new blog series will zoom in on the future of the region’s least developed and lower middle income countries in a post-pandemic world.

“Policymakers and academics need to review and sometimes to rethink development approaches as the region begins to chart its way out of the pandemic,” Professor Mahanty said.

“Policy Forum has asked contributors to broadly consider, in the countries where they work, ‘where to from here?’”

“They will look into the most pressing developmental challenges and policy concerns the region’s still-developing countries face and show that some of the biggest gains could be made in the corners of Asia too often ignored in policy debate.”

This blog series will not only draw upon the breadth of expertise at ANU, which has the highest concentration of experts on the region of any Australian university, but will also feature pieces by authors from across Asia and all over the world. Policy Forum will serve as a hub for important policy discussions on development pathways and the future of the region.

“Asia and the Pacific are where the University’s history and networks run deepest, and Policy Forum is no exception,” Professor Mahanty said.

Through this series, ANU will demonstrate its continuing and evolving impact in the region seven and a half decades since the University was founded.

Visit Policy Forum to find out more about the In Focus: Developing Asia blog series and read expert analysis on the policy challenges facing the region’s least developed members.