Micro-businesses need support even as South-east Asia readies for recovery: report

REGIONAL planners will have their hands full with micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), which make up a large share of private businesses in Asia.

That's even as the Asian Development Bank (ADB) anticipates a rebound in the regional economy, on the back of "a healthy global recovery" and vaccination progress, in its annual Asian Development Outlook report on Wednesday.

According to ADB chief economist Yasuyuki Sawada, "economies in the region are on diverging paths. Their trajectories are shaped by the extent of domestic outbreaks, the pace of their vaccine roll-outs, and how much they are benefiting from the global recovery".