Economy

In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, tourist arrivals in Asia are expected to return to 2019 levels next year -- putting at risk once again the region's rich environmental and cultural heritage.
Asia Insight

Can ASEAN avoid overtourism as arrivals return to pre-COVID levels?

Governments struggle toward a more sustainable and equitable hospitality sector

20 December 2022
Referees at the World Cup in Qatar have turned to technology to review difficult calls.
Comment

Divided world should learn from World Cup on settling disputes

Escalating trade fights need neutral arbiter like soccer's video referees

18 December 2022
Ha Long Bay, a popular tourist destination in northern Vietnam, is only drawing around half as many foreign visitors as before the pandemic, local industry officials say. (Photo by Tomoya Onishi)
Travel & Leisure

Foreign tourism in Vietnam a shadow of pre-COVID boom

Visa policy, missing Chinese blamed for slow recovery; India offers hope

18 December 2022
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is pushing to set up a sovereign wealth fund to develop the economy and infrastructure, but critics complain of financial risks. (File photon by AFP/Jiji) 
Politics

Marcos' sovereign fund advances with Philippine congress nod

Trimmed down Maharlika Investment Fund moves to Senate for further scrutiny

16 December 2022
Workers stand beside an Electric Multiple Unit high-speed train at the Tegalluar train depot in Bandung, West Java province, Indonesia, on Oct. 13. Service begins in six months.
Caixin

How China helped build Indonesia's high-speed railway

Xi Jinping team agreed to transfer technology and hire local workers

16 December 2022
The Philippine central bank in Manila: Monetary authorities in the country are raising interest rates as they battle surging inflation and a sagging currency. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)
Economy

Philippines hikes rates by half point to tame 'rampant' inflation

Central bank chief signals further tightening will be at moderate pace

15 December 2022
Tighter financial conditions are raising borrowing costs, which is starting to depress housing demand in Asia, according to a recent study by the International Monetary Fund.
Property

From Hong Kong to Malaysia, property markets set to decline: IMF

Shift in interest rate cycle creates 'downside risks', organization says

15 December 2022
The port of Tanjung Emas in Central Java, Indonesia. The Asian Development Bank has revised its growth forecast for Asian economies including Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam downward.
Economy

ADB cuts developing Asia's 2023 growth forecast again

Southeast Asia's growth to accelerate in 2022 before heading for a slowdown

14 December 2022
Pfizer's anti-viral medication Paxlovid to treat COVID-19: Global access to effective tests and treatments is a crucial element to economic recovery.
Opinion

Delays on WTO deal for COVID treatments are costing lives in Asia

Export of generic versions best way to limit hospitalizations, economic losses

14 December 2022
Female students at a government school in a rural area of Himachal Pradesh, India: We must develop solutions responsive to the specific needs of women and girls at all levels.
Opinion

Economic empowerment for Asia's women requires more support

Pandemic has pushed millions out of jobs and suppressed salaries

13 December 2022
A factory of Malaysian national automaker Proton. Vietnamese rival VinFast has moved ahead in electric-vehicle production.
Economy

Malaysia's 'middle power' ambition faces rivals in own backyard

New PM Anwar Ibrahim seeks opportunity in U.S.-China rivalry but competition abounds

11 December 2022
A coffee shop in Yangon, which opened last year, offers a place for people made anxious by political and civil strife to relax.
Myanmar Crisis

Myanmar's urban hangouts recover as people tire of politics

Young people stressed by social unrest seek solace among friends

11 December 2022
Philippine Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno says plans for the central bank to contribute to a proposed sovereign wealth fund are not an assault on the bank's independence.
Economy

Marcos team urges on Philippine wealth fund bill amid criticism

Latest version does not require employee pension fund contributions

9 December 2022
Fewer Chinese container ships are departing to the U.S. as trade patterns shift.
Trade

U.S.-bound container traffic from China plunges as ASEAN share rises

Washington-Beijing rivalry and shifting consumption change trading patterns

9 December 2022
From late 2024 at the earliest, new rules in Singapore will require ride-hailing and food delivery companies to contribute to social security savings schemes for their workers.
Technology

Singapore's gig economy braces for 'complex' safety net rules

ASEAN's first protections for platform workers have regional implications

8 December 2022
A factory in Vietnam operated by Matsuoka Corporation, a Uniqlo supplier. (Photo courtesy of Matsuoka Corporation)
Business trends

Vietnam, Cambodia draw Japanese apparel makers away from China

Uniqlo suppliers and others lured by lower labor costs and RCEP tariff reductions

8 December 2022
Demonstrators gather near Indonesia's parliament building in Jakarta on Dec. 6 to protest passage of a law that restricts personal freedoms.
Politics

Indonesia's new criminal code spurs democracy, business concerns

Curbs widely criticized, though some say worries of impact on tourism overblown

7 December 2022
A shuttered fertilizer store in Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka, on April 25: Carving out targeted exceptions to Western sanctions to facilitate Russian fertilizer exports would support increased food production.
Opinion

Russia war sanctions should not deprive Asia of fertilizer

Expansion of domestic grain production depends on secure access to inputs

6 December 2022
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim meets supporters during his first public appearance in Putrajaya on Nov. 25.
Malaysia election

Anwar faces fight to pull Malaysia out of middle-income trap

New government wrestles with old problem of brain drain fueled by Malay preference policy

6 December 2022
A worker maintains power lines in Vietnam. Coal is the leading fuel for state-run Vietnam Electricity Group's power plants.
Energy

Vietnam utility EVN eyes electricity rate hike as coal costs rise

Request suggests increase of at least 5%, as company heads toward $1.3bn loss

6 December 2022
Relatives of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. last week filed a bill in Congress seeking to create a sovereign wealth fund. (File photo by AP) 
Economy

Philippine businesses attack Marcos sovereign wealth fund plan

Officials defend Maharlika Investments Fund, saying it won't be like 1MDB

5 December 2022
Children play in the water near the Wolseong nuclear power plant in Gyeongju, South Korea: The practical risks from nuclear power are extremely limited.
Opinion

Government support critical for Asia's nuclear power revival

New technologies reduce cost and risk, but financing still challenging

5 December 2022
Vietnamese technical interns work at a construction site in Tokyo. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)
Japan immigration

Japan to lose pay appeal for Vietnamese, Indonesian workers by 2032: study

Stagnant Japanese wages risk making Southeast Asians look elsewhere for jobs

5 December 2022
Thailand's newly introduced high-skilled worker visa program has drawn more than 1,600 applicants so far. (Photo by Kentaro Iwamoto)
Economy

Americans, Chinese snap up Thai 'talent visas,' official says

Manufacturing hubs seek industrial upgrade amid supply-chain shift

3 December 2022
Laborers separate husks from grains of paddy rice at a wholesale grain market on the outskirts of New Delhi: Export restrictions are a grossly inefficient solution to rising prices.
Opinion

Southeast Asian leaders must take more care with food policy

Export bans, new taxes and subsidy cuts challenge vital industrial sector

1 December 2022