Showing 1 - 10 of 85
Sri Lanka's next test
Asia focus, Priyanka Krishnamoorthy, Published on 01/08/2022
» In a win for democracy, mass protests in Sri Lanka recently led to the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Digital dividend
Asia focus, W Audi Pattarapatumthong, Published on 25/07/2022
» The digital economy is playing an ever-increasing role in business, trade and human capital development. As countries emerge from the pandemic and steer through new economic headwinds, digitisation is taking on even greater importance.
Waiting for China
Asia focus, Nareerat Wiriyapong, Published on 23/05/2022
» Since China began to open up and reform its economy in 1978, growth has averaged almost 10% a year, and more than 800 million people have been lifted out of poverty. There have also been significant improvements in access to health, education and other services, with the mainland now an upper-middle-income country.
Climate action urgency growing
Asia focus, Nareerat Wiriyapong, Published on 28/03/2022
» Summertime has arrived in this part of the world, with temperatures rising considerably although we are not yet in April, normally the hottest month in Thailand.
Reviving Sabah
Asia focus, Paritta Wangkiat, Published on 28/02/2022
» The economy of Sabah, a Malaysian state in the northern part of Borneo Island, has fallen into a slumber during the Covid-19 pandemic, with the lowest growth among the country's states.
Myanmar tests Asean unity again
Asia focus, Nareerat Wiriyapong, Published on 07/02/2022
» Feb 1 was a day of celebration as millions marked the beginning of the Year of the Tiger. But it was also a day of sober reflection as it reminded us about the military takeover in Myanmar exactly a year ago.
Myanmar soldiers collecting bills at gunpoint
Asia focus, By Richard C Paddock of the New York Times, Published on 31/01/2022
» The schoolteacher had just got out of bed when four Myanmar army soldiers pounded on her door. Her electricity payment was overdue, they said, and ordered her to pay it immediately at the government power company office.
Year of Turbulence
Asia focus, Asia Focus Team, Published on 27/12/2021
» Pandemic drags on recovery: In the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, many Asian countries had enviable success, avoiding large-scale outbreaks and mass deaths. But the arrival of the more transmissible Delta variant this year and sluggish vaccine rollouts compounded by low availability sent cases surging. Combined with poor monitoring and easy movement among countries, often unofficially, Southeast Asia became a virus hotspot. The ballooning health crisis collided with churning political discontent in the case of Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia. Economically, the new wave of infections, and attendant restrictions imposed to curb the spread, stalled recoveries. After nearly two years of strict border controls, many countries started to loosen up and live with Covid. But the rise of the Omicron variant now threatens to scuttle those tentative reopening plans and usher in a third year of economic anxiety.
Speaking up about forced labour
Asia focus, Nareerat Wiriyapong, Published on 20/12/2021
» In a move that could further sour relations between the world's two largest economies, the US Congress last week agreed on legislation aimed at punishing China for the alleged oppression of Uighur Muslims.
What a waste
Asia focus, Apiradee Treerutkuarkul, Published on 11/10/2021
» Crates of paper, metal, plastic and unwanted rubbish from developed countries are piled up at ports in the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam, while vast toxic wastelands of imported plastics have emerged across Malaysia.