Vietnam is considered one of the most efficient power markets in Southeast Asia. The country has achieved around 99 percent electrification with relatively low cost in comparison to neighboring countries. With development and industrialization, as energy demand skyrockets, Vietnam is predictably experiencing a shortfall in supply....
Chinese leader Xi Jinping launched One Belt, One Road (OBOR) in 2013, later re-translated as Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), as China’s global infrastructure development strategy for historical Silk Road trading routes. Confusingly, the “belt” refers to land connections, Marco Polo’s northern routes dating from...
35 years ago, the EDSA Revolution or what is more popularly known as the People Power Revolution swept the Philippines. The unarmed civil resistance movement against violence and electoral fraud led to the departure of Marcos, ending his 20-year presidential term and restoring democracy in the Philippines. From the elections...
Southeast Asia is not a stranger to sovereign wealth funds (SWFs). In this field of play, the region has witnessed both great success and devastating failure. On the positive end of the spectrum there are GIC and Temasek (the state owned funds of Singapore that...
Next time when you pick up a breakfast sandwich and chai latte at a Starbucks in Indonesia, spare a thought for the vanishing old Subway or the once fiery Nando’s. Western fast-food chains have consistently been unsuccessful in either changing local taste buds or adapting...
Many of today’s emerging markets are predicted to be the dominating economic forces of the future, and none are perhaps more exciting than India and the ASEAN countries. As the global economic glare continues to shift from the west to the east, what may be of particular...
ASEAN with a population of over 650 million people and a combined GDP of over US$ 3.2 trillion in 2019 is increasingly becoming a focus market for global companies looking for stable and high growth opportunities. While Singapore is home to less than 1% of ASEAN’s population,...
Hong Kong has been accustomed to – even thrived on – political upheaval. Ever since China ceded Hong Kong island in perpetuity to the British in the “unequal” Treaty of Nanking at the close of the First Opium War (1842), the territory has faced down challenges and...
Globally, the pandemic has fast forwarded the adoption of digital technologies and nowhere does this ring truer than the emerging nations of ASEAN. The fact that digital transformation is crucial for business longevity has been accepted for some time now, but the stay-at-home restrictions accelerated...
China’s role as a debtor to the world has become increasingly prominent in past years. In fact, according to a report by Vox, estimates suggest that debt from China (to the 50 most exposed countries) has risen from less than 1% of debtor country GDP...
Get monthly updates and latest news from the ASEAN region
