• Editorial
After he won re-election last April, Indonesian President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo was eager to emphasise the liberating effects of not having to worry about re-election. In his second and final term, the President told the […]
• Editorial
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 […]
• Editorial
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 […]
• Editorial
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 […]
• Editorial
Despite the substantial contribution women-led or -owned small and medium enterprises (WSMEs) make to the Indonesian economy, their aspirations are not effectively facilitated by policymakers. Three areas require greater attention: increasing the accessibility of information, […]
• Editorial
Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security (MoPS) thinks that it is killing two birds with one stone by passing new laws regulating data storage. But it could soon find out it has no use for two […]
• Editorial
Lao PDR is among the fastest growing economies in Southeast Asia: economic growth has averaged 7.8 per cent over the past decade. Despite the slow recovery of the global economy, the country’s growth rate was […]
• Editorial
After 25 years of rhetoric about state-owned enterprise (SOE) reform in Vietnam it appears that there is finally some real progress. PetroVietnam, Vietnam Airlines, Vinatex (the textile conglomerate), and Saigon and Hanoi Alcohol Beer and […]
Since 2014 Thailand’s coup-led government has prioritised eliminating human trafficking, especially among migrant workers. This renewed attention has been in direct response to a storm of international criticism aimed at the poor working conditions suffered by migrant […]
• Editorial
Cambodia recently made the transition from a low income to a lower middle-income country, according to the World Bank’s rankings. This is good news, but it poses a question: does Cambodia need to rethink its model of […]
• Editorial
In 1996 Southeast Asia was celebrating its ‘economic miracle’ as the World Bank (WB) lauded the region’s spectacular growth. Tackling middle income challenges was the focus of an IMF–Asean conference in Jakarta. The mood was […]
Vietnam’s economy has shown resilience in the face of global headwinds. In 2016 Vietnam GDP growth was an estimated 6.2 per cent — higher than the larger Asean economies of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. This […]