Countries

The case raises wider questions about how rapidly advancing biotechnologies are governed in one of the world’s largest agricultural economies and food exporters.

ASEAN foreign ministers are expected to discuss the transboundary haze at an upcoming meeting. The episode highlights longstanding regional tensions over the annual haze, which has strained diplomatic relations in previous severe seasons such as 2015.

BCG says that policymakers and businesses alike will need strategies that address both the scale of the rural middle class and the constraints facing households that have slipped downward if the gains of recovery are to become more widely shared.

Earlier assessments have similarly stressed that without accelerated action, high levels of hunger could persist for generations in the most affected regions.

Earlier in 2025, Pakistan reported a 47 per cent drop in illegal “dunki” route attempts and the arrest of 1,770 human smugglers and agents.

The provisional September figures, compiled with a weighted response rate of 83.4 per cent, will be subject to revision.

The World Bank currently projects a modest recovery to 3.9 per cent in FY2027-28 if reforms gather momentum.

The Tier 3 ranking places Afghanistan among a small group of countries where governments or de facto authorities demonstrate a policy or pattern of trafficking or related exploitation, including the recruitment of child soldiers.