Asia is a continent of diverse people speaking hundreds of languages and subscribing to different cultures, beliefs and religions. The tremendous diversity in Asia makes generalization about HIV/AIDS meaningless as it prevents understanding the specificity of the spread of HIV in the local social context, and the cultural sensitivity that renders strategies effective in one setting but useless in another. Against the background of such diversity, this paper highlights the key issues and strategies related to the sex sector that were brought up at the International Conference on HIV/AIDS in Asia and the Pacific held in Kuala Lumpur from 20-27 October 1999. Topics examined include root causes of sex work in Asia and strategies of civil society to address AIDS as it relates to the sex sector.