The transaction involves a loan of up to $10,000,000 (or the local currency equivalent) to Araz Supermarket LLC (Araz) for the Veyseloglu Modern Retail Expansion Project in Azerbaijan, and technical assistance (TA) of $500,000 for the Building the Capacity of Smallholder Fruit and Vegetable Farmers for Climate-Resilient Farming.

This report examines the progress of trade facilitation in Asia and the Pacific, highlights recent trends in paperless trade, and evaluates the impact of trade facilitation initiatives on trade costs and overall trade.

This brief shows how mainstreaming blue finance hinges on developing a solid regulatory framework that drives investment toward bankable marine-based projects and analyzes how to expand the sector in the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

This edition of the ASEAN+3 Bond Market Guide series focuses on updates in the Republic of Korea’s (ROK) market since the publication of the previous guide for the ROK in 2018.

This report shares insights on economic corridor development (ECD) from the 2023 Regional Cooperation and Integration (RCI) Conference, discussing how ECD can help diversify trade, cut costs, and support regional growth.

This report emphasizes that open and fair trade is essential for Asia and the Pacific’s transition to low-carbon economies and outlines the important role of Aid for Trade in this transition.

Asia and the Pacific’s developing economies are projected to grow 5.0% this year on the back of resilient domestic demand and strong export growth, particularly in the electronics sector.

This paper examines how booms and busts in peer-to-peer (P2P) lending in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) affect monetary policy transmission to inflation and output.

The project will build and equip 3 climate-resilient and energy-efficient border crossing points (BCP) between the Kyrgyz Republic and Kazakhstan on the Kyrgyz side of the border and a training center for the Kyrgyz Border Service (the project EA). The project with the total loan and grant financing of $37 Million will help facilitate trade and tourism between the Kyrgyz Republic and Kazakhstan and will contribute to the sustainable economic development along the Almaty-Bishkek Economic Corridor.

It is proposed to modernize the 1,147 km strategic railway line between Turkmenabat, Mary, Ashgabat, and Turkmenbashi (TMAT), which is located at the crossroads of major eastwest and northsouth international trade routes and accounts for over 50% of freight movements in Turkmenistan.

The project integrates crop diversification with the adoption of climate-smart irrigated agricultural practices that require modernization of irrigation systems and on-farm water management to improve irrigation efficiency and crop water productivity. It includes the following three outputs: (i) irrigation management services strengthened, (ii) modern irrigation and drainage infrastructure developed, and (iii) efficient on-farm water management practices adopted.

The proposed SMEDP2-Phase 2 will consist of a $100 million concessional loan from ADB's ordinary capital resources and an attached technical assistance of $950,000 in aggregate from TASF-7 and Financial Sector Development Partnership Special Fund. It will finance the continuation and expansion of activities financed under the SMEDP2 project by increasing the number and size of commercially viable cottage, micro, small and medium enterprises (CMSMEs), as well as supporting employment in the CMSME sector.

The project will support increased contributions of clean energy in Mongolia's energy mix while also supporting energy security, efficiency, and resilience. The project will finance the construction of a new 220 kilovolt (kV) transmission line to connect to the 90-megawatt (MW) Erdeneburen hydropower plant (HPP) to the existing grid network, which will increase supply in the Western Energy System (WES), eliminate costly and high-emission imports from the Russian Federation, and facilitate maximized utilization of wind and solar generating capacity.

The proposed Northern China Agriculture and Food Ecosystem Net Zero Transformation Project (project) will support the PRC to achieve its climate commitment through catalyzing financing and strengthening institutional capacity for net zero transformation in agriculture and food ecosystem.

The project will reduce trans-boundary animal diseases (TAD), food safety and zoonotic disease risks and strengthen livestock value chains and COVID-19 responses through investments in infrastructure, capacity building and policy support. The project will have the following outcome: health, value chains, and formal trade of livestock and livestock products improved. The project will be aligned with the following impact: GMS vision as a leading supplier of safe and environmentally friendly agriculture products realized.

The proposed project will undertake a long-term and strategic approach to deliver climate adaptive solutions for water resources management in the Amu Darya River Basins in Uzbekistan. Predicted climate change impacts include increased temperatures, increased frequency and severity of extreme events such as floods and droughts, and a reduction of water availability and increased variability of water flows in the major river basins. Decreasing availability and increased water requirements by different sectors are leading to a growing seasonal and absolute supply-demand gap.

The TA will provide implementation support to a series of ongoing and ensuing projects. It's objective will be to strengthen the quality of implementation of ongoing projects. The focus will be on procurement, contract management, DPP/TAPP approvals, project design and management.

The TA will focus on evaluating the wind potential of various site/s for government investment in wind energy. A feasibility analysis of viable wind sites will be carried out, which will inform the government on the scale of wind projects and how best to develop this potential. The TA will also fund the equipment for measuring wind speeds and directions to confirm site selection and build capacity for wind energy development in the EA.

Fossils in rocks that are 3.8 billion years old have puzzled biologists as they look nothing like modern cells, but now it seems they may be an ancient precursor life form that was unable to control its structure

The graft involved in trying to bring the peregrine falcon, Hawaiian crow and California condor back from the brink in the US makes for compelling reading in Feather Trails by Sophie Osborn

Turning around and backing up out of pools found in tree hollows may help mating Charles Darwin’s frogs find a safe place to lay their eggs while fending off competitive males

Horses that are bred to race seem to perform better on the course if they had a diverse gut microbiome as foals

An estimate of annual bird fatalities due to building collisions in the US brings the figure to more than 1 billion – it is the first to include deaths from injuries after the strike

Microwaves in homes, offices and laboratories have been found to host diverse microbiomes, highlighting the importance of regular cleaning

Lush and vibrant cinematography plus a "cast" of real animals make Heart of an Oak an enthralling celebration of the natural world

Invasive cane toads have decimated native freshwater crocodile populations in northern Australia, as the predators don't know they should avoid the toxic amphibians

Lab-reared German cockroaches are susceptible to consumer insecticide sprays, allowing manufacturers to pass US regulatory tests, but insects taken from real-world infestations are able to shrug off the products

All living creatures use only the left or right-handed forms of certain molecules, and now we might understand why

Male fireflies caught in an orb-weaver spider’s web start flashing in an unusual pattern, a deadly deception that seems to attract additional victims for the spider

Up to 100,000 extraordinary species, from spiders and beetles to salamanders and fish, live in subterranean caves and cracks. They aren’t as safe down there as we thought

The Origins and Habitability Lab at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is a testbed exploring how geological conditions could impact life in environments such as early Earth, Mars or the icy moons of Jupiter

The books, TV, games and more that New Scientist staff have enjoyed this week

Cleaner wrasse use their reflection to build a mental image of their body size, which they use to compare themselves to rivals before picking a fight

Custom-made wool caps have enabled scientists to record electroencephalograms in awake cats for the first time, which could help assess their pain levels

Feeding bees edible bits of hydrogel increases their odds of surviving pesticide exposure by 30 per cent

From migrating sauropods and semi-aquatic predators to doting parents, palaeontologists are finally uncovering the mysteries of the lifestyles of dinosaurs

Some lizards dive into streams to escape predators, and a specialised bubble-breathing technique enables them to stay submerged for up to 18 minutes

African giant pouched rats proved adept at detecting four commonly trafficked products derived from endangered species including rhino horn and elephant ivory

Unravelling the complex biological process that allows fish to regrow injured fins could help advance regenerative medicine in humans

Kew scientists use paramotorists to collect rare plant species from Peruvian desert oases

Ancient volcanic rock from South Africa has been found to harbour primitive bacteria, which may shed light on some of the earliest forms of life on Earth

During a fight between two male mice, one will often run to a female mouse to distract their aggressor, a bait-and-switch strategy that could help abate social conflicts

The natural motors that power tail-like appendages in bacteria seem to have a single evolutionary origin, allowing parts from different species to be combined to create a tiny new engine

Colossal, a US firm that is aiming to revive lost species such as the woolly mammoth, says it now has a near-complete genome of the extinct thylacine

Rival tribes of bacteria armed with poison darts are fighting it out in your gut, with armies of traitors often winning the day

The books, TV, games and more that New Scientist staff have enjoyed this week

For nervous newbie gardeners, starting out with a single plant in a small pot is pitched as an easy win by the horticultural industry. James Wong explains why it isn't