Showing 1 - 10 of 94
Green recovery
Asia focus, Pattama Kuentak, Published on 08/08/2022
» As the world emerges from Covid-19 and faces stagflation and war, climate crisis remains one of the greatest threats to humanity. A green recovery has become a priority for policymakers in Southeast Asia and around the world, who aim to create a more sustainable path that focuses on the environment, climate change and disaster preparedness.
Time for plastic detox
Asia focus, Pattama Kuentak, Published on 09/05/2022
» Anyone who has ever strolled along a beach is familiar with the sight … plastic straws, snack packaging, some of it dating back years, plastic bottles and other junk washed up on the sand. It's enough to spoil your vacation memories -- and it's also part of a global crisis.
China must rethink Zero Covid
Asia focus, Nareerat Wiriyapong, Published on 25/04/2022
» It finally feels like the world, collectively, is moving in one direction. Toward reopening. Toward the new normal. Hong Kong, after some of the world's strictest quarantine rules kept Covid-19 at bay for almost two years, last Thursday reopened gyms, beauty parlours, theme parks and cinemas for the first time in more than four months.
Three-way link
Asia focus, Apiradee Treerutkuarkul, Published on 07/02/2022
» Facing an increasingly uncertain strategic environment in the Indo-Pacific region, the United States and one of its key allies -- South Korea -- are pursuing increased cooperation beyond Northeast Asia, a path that is expected to lead them to Southeast Asia.
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.
Labour outlook troubling
Asia focus, Pattama Kuentak, Published on 24/01/2022
» The global labour market has suffered a setback from waves of the pandemic, with the recovery depending on each country's ability to contain and respond to coronavirus outbreaks, according to the International Labour Organization (ILO).
Where To Next?
Asia focus, Pattama Kuentak, Published on 10/01/2022
» The world has entered its third year of living with a global pandemic. We have witnessed almost 300 million Covid-19 cases with 5.47 million lives lost, yet the toll might have been much worse but for an almost superhuman global effort to develop effective vaccines in record time.
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.
Asean's crucial digital mission
Asia focus, Ong Bo Yang, Published on 04/10/2021
» Speeding up digitisation and bridging the digital divide in the region is a mission of paramount importance, in the view of lawmakers who took part in the 42nd General Assembly of the Asean Inter-Parliamentary Assembly was held in August this year.
Journeys of discovery
Asia focus, Nareerat Wiriyapong, Published on 16/08/2021
» Sipping green tea after having a Thai lunch at his house, Farid Bidgoli looks relaxed yet energetic, and ready for an interview. From his appearance and accent, the 42-year-old executive looks exactly like someone from the UK where he was born, though he is half Iranian with a spirit inherited from his father.