Thailand is in temporary limbo. The current government, which came to office in May 2014 via the country’s 12th military coup, is in full election mode. The Thai people wait in uncertainty for the outcome. […]
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to the Philippines in November 2018 was the first by a top Chinese leader in more than a decade, marking the culmination of an ongoing rapprochement between the two […]
China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) continues to draw criticism and disapproval. Its sceptics brand it as China’s Marshall Plan, or as a ‘neo-imperial project’. To ensure the initiative’s success, China should heed some […]
Laos is one of the fastest growing economies in Southeast Asia (SEA). On average the country’s economy as measured by GDP has grown by 7.5 per cent per year and trade by 17 per cent […]
For the Mekong countries, including Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam, 2018 was a big year both domestically and regionally. Key developments from last year will inevitably continue to shape the politics of the region […]
In March 2018, the Cambodian government announced its intention to be ready to transform into a digital economy by 2023. A digital economy is one in which economic processes and activities are based on digital […]
Having returned to the Malaysian prime ministership, Mahathir Mohamad is implementing a much-welcomed reform agenda and correcting governance ills introduced during his earlier reign. But relations with Singapore are reverting to the pestilent hostilities synonymous […]
Indonesia has achieved almost 20 years of continuous economic growth. It navigated the 2008 global financial crisis with little difficulty, and effectively weathered the emerging market volatilities of 2018. It has also adjusted to the […]
Singapore reported a credible economic performance in 2018 amid an increasingly uncertain global environment, exemplified by the US–China trade war. Economic growth for the year came in at 3.3 per cent and overall inflation at 0.4 per cent. […]
Last year marked the mid-point between Vietnam’s five yearly National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV). The eighth plenum of the CPV Central Committee met in October to initiate planning for the 13th […]
The pattern of political reform following a regime change is usually predictable: the reformers gain popular support, make changes to the constitution and then use constitutional politics to achieve their ends. But Malaysia’s current period […]
The widely unanticipated ousting of Malaysia’s government last May not only left political analysts scrambling for explanations, it also had economists wondering what was in store for the economy. The Najib Razak government had presided […]