Showing 101 - 110 of 131
Boost relations with Australia for regional success
News, Published on 24/05/2014
» This year Asean and Australia are celebrating their 40th anniversary of relations. For Asean, Australia is a crucial and increasingly high-profile external partner, aiding its rise to one of the region’s most enduring and important regional organisations.
Tongue-tied about Thai politics
Life, Kaona Pongpipat, Published on 21/05/2014
» Now is definitely not the best time for us Thais to be travelling abroad, especially if we have to engage in conversations with foreigners about the political situation here. Last weekend, I was on a media trip with a group of reporters from Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines and we had to meet up with quite a few people from Europe.
Postbag: Loose lips sink ships
News, Published on 22/03/2014
» There is much loose talk about possible civil war, but how much of this demonstrates a lack of critical thinking? Nobody clearly lays out who would be the protagonists and instigators of such an occurrence. Neither do they lay out what would be the objectives of such a war or how this would be in the interests of the Thai people. What is clear is that such a war would result in Thais killing Thais again. Brainstorming is often a good way to think your way through critical issues.
Guru Asks
Guru, Sumati Sivasiamphai, Published on 28/02/2014
» What accolade was Phuket recently honoured with?
The world economy's impossible demand
Business, Published on 07/02/2014
» The global economy's glory days are surely over. Yet policymakers continue to focus on short-term demand management in the hope of resurrecting the heady growth rates enjoyed before the 2008-09 financial crisis.
US picks bad time to miss world affairs
News, Published on 27/01/2014
» The US Congress has now carelessly blocked a long-awaited reform of the International Monetary Fund. That would be bad enough if it were an isolated episode. But this is just the latest in a series of self-inflicted blows since the turn of the century that have needlessly undermined the United States' claim to global leadership.
New trade ideas can reduce poverty
News, Published on 30/12/2013
» A long-held tenet of international-trade theory is that, in the long run, increased trade correlates with faster GDP growth. But the challenge _ which my institution, the World Bank, is working to overcome _ is to ensure that trade-driven growth benefits the poor. That is why the heads of seven multilateral institutions, including the World Bank, strongly supported the push for the trade-facilitation agreement that was reached earlier this month at the World Trade Organisation's ministerial conference in Bali.
Governments have a thankless task, but we need them
News, Published on 24/12/2013
» A recent survey by the World Economic Forum (WEF)'s Network of Global Agenda Councils rated government lower than either business or media in its ability to respond to global challenges.
Time is ripe for new global trade deal
News, Published on 06/12/2013
» This week, ministers and delegates gather in Bali to try to thrash out a new multilateral trade deal. It seems likely that a deal, if it materialises, has been reduced to addressing trade and customs procedures, rather than the core issues of reducing tariffs and trade barriers. Given this minimalism, it is high time to think about the benefits of free trade in a new and broader light.
The digital wake-up call Europe and Asia cannot ignore
News, Published on 30/10/2013
» The coincidence was telling. At their autumn summit last week in Brussels, leaders of the 28 European Union countries were expected to discuss the EU Digital Agenda, with the aim to focus on their internal market and agree on common industrial and regulations priorities. This discussion indeed took place. But the issue which dominated their exchanges was a much more political one: can the EU continue to accept to be spied on by the United States, and can Germany _ the continent's economic powerhouse _ not confront Washington after the recent revelations on Chancellor Angela Merkel's electronic communications interceptions by the National Security Agency (NSA)?