Are you interested in the recovery process of the crisis struck 
economies after 1997 Asian financial crisis? If you are, the 
following web-site may be of interest to you:

http://www.aric.adb.org

The site is developed by the Asia Recovery Information Centre 
(ARIC) at 
Asian Development Bank under the directorship of Dr Juzhong 
Zhuang, a
former CEA(UK) president. 

The concept of ARIC first emerged at the Meeting on Development 
Cooperation: Responding to the Asia Crisis held in Sydney on 5 
March 1999.
This meeting gave high priority to the need for accurate and timely
information on the economic and social impacts of the Asian crisis 
and how
the recovery was progressing. Such information was seen as vital to
decision-makers in making informed choices on how best to 
respond to the
crisis and to sustain the recovery's momentum.

Acting on a proposal by the Australian Government, the meeting 
agreed that
an Internet-based facility would provide the most efficient means of
gathering, collating, and disseminating this information. The 
Australian
Government subsequently invited the Bank to house the ARIC at its
headquarters in Manila, which ultimately resulted in the Bank's 
approving
a regional technical assistance project for this purpose that was 
funded
entirely through a grant from the Australian Agency for International
Development (AusAID).

What Does ARIC Do?

The objectives of the ARIC web site are to:

    monitor the social and economic impacts of the Asian crisis and 
the
recovery process with a  view to identify the remaining policy 
agenda for
a sustained social as well as economic recovery; 
     provide information on the response of the international 
community,
concerned governments,  non-government organizations (NGOs), 
and civil
society-at-large to the crisis; and 
     monitor and contribute to on-going discussions of policy reform 
in
response to the crisis. 

Which Countries Does ARIC Cover?

ARIC's initial coverage includes the five countries most affected by 
the
Asian crisis: Indonesia, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, the 
Philippines,
and Thailand. Over time, this will be expanded to include more of 
the
Asian countries affected by the crisis.

What Sort of Information Can I Get from ARIC's Seven Sections?

Here's a sample so that you can see for yourself.

RECOVERY WATCH - How is Asia's recovery progressing? What 
do 
experts think about its sustainability and future path? Will the 
current
pace of financial and corporate restructuring support or limit the 
Asian
rebound? Where are policy reforms headed? This section gives you 
the
answers. And beginning December 1999, browse or download the 
Asia Recovery
Report, ARIC's semi-annual review of the Asian recovery posted 
each
December and June.

SOCIAL DIMENSIONS - Are there signs that a recovery from 
Asia's 
social crisis has begun? What have Asians done to cope with the 
social
side of the crisis? How much of a cushion have safety nets really
provided? Have short-term assistance programs lived up to 
expectations?
What do social indicators tell us? This section has the details.

INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE - What are the strategies being 
used 
by international agencies to speed up the recovery and reduce 
poverty?
Which issues are they focusing on? What are the areas to be 
targeted to
avoid "reinventing the wheel"? This section gives you a "big picture"
overview of the global community's response to the crisis and how it has
affected official assistance priorities.

COUNTRY FOCUS - Need information about how the recovery is 
unfolding in a particular country? What plans does the government have for
policy reform? How effective are its social protection programs? How do
national think tanks view these and other issues? You'll find information
on all of these topics and more in this section, as well as
country-specific data.

ARIC INDICATORS - Need hard data on the recovery? This section has 
more than 40 economic, financial and social indicators that can be viewed
as tables or charts. These are available in monthly, quarterly, or annual
format.

MEETINGS AND CONFERENCES - Which conferences on the recovery 
should you be attending? What are their dates and venues? This section has
the details. And if you need information about a previous meeting, our
calendar looks backwards as well. Link to the full text of those
conference papers that were too bulky to carry home.

KEY HYPERLINKS - Find the web sites you need without doing a global 
search. Browse through our hyperlinks by organization. Need links to
international agencies? NGOs? National government agencies, statistical
offices, or research institutes? They're all right here.

Who Are ARIC's Target Users?

All Internet users are welcome to use ARIC. But it is designed mainly for:

     government agencies 
     the international assistance community 
     private-sector users 
     non-government organizations 
     economic policy analysts 
     academic researchers, and 
     journalists




***************************************
Dr. Haiyan Song
School of Management Stuides
University of Surrey
GUILDFORD 
Surrey GU2 5XH
England

Tel: +44 1483 876353 
Fax: +44 1483 256321
****************************************



***************************************
Dr. Haiyan Song
School of Management Stuides
University of Surrey
GUILDFORD 
Surrey GU2 5XH
England

Tel: +44 1483 876353 
Fax: +44 1483 256321
****************************************


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