Surprisingly then, over the past few months, Asia has staged an impressive comeback. Indicators suggest that many jurisdictions such as Korea, Taiwan and Singapore have experienced a return to robust growth. Capital markets have bounced back, parts of the region are awash with private equity in the form of venture capital and there is a tangible sense of excitement over China's agreement on WTO accession. For some sectors, it seems that the crisis is no more than a bad memory. However, amid all the good news, some are echoing a note of caution.
Some people say there has been no genuine recovery in the sectors that really matter.
Behind the VC, the IPO and WTO headlines, there's still a lot of pain in Asia. Just as the crisis affected countries in different ways, the responses to it varied widely across the region depending on the severity of the downturn and the political will to reform. Some have been successful, some unsuccessful, others are pending. The extent to which Asia is really back in business depends to a large extent on the success of such reforms.