Region

By Alex Tangkilisan Mar. 7 – In the fourth and final part of our ASEAN-India Free Trade Area analysis, we will examine trade trends and statistics from India to Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia. Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia account for three of ASEAN’s six major economies known as the ASEAN six majors (the other three being […]

Mar. 4 – The Minister for Finance delivered Singapore’s yearly budget to the Singapore Parliament last week. The main focus of the budget was to continue the process of restructuring Singapore’s economy by increasing the productivity of its workforce, reducing Singapore’s dependence on its foreign workforce and providing incentives to encourage local businesses to be […]

Mar. 1 – The Malaysian state of Sabah has been in the headlines after a group of Philippine tribes, lead by the Sultan of Sulu, sailed from their home base in the remote Southern area of the Philippines to stake a claim on the Malaysian territory. The Sultan, now aged 74, has lead a group […]

Mar. 1 – The Singaporean Government recently released its 2013 budget in which it revealed new measures totaling SG$5.9 billion aimed at helping businesses, facilitating investment and spurring further growth. Corporate income tax was a targeted issue, with the Government announcing that it would provide a 30 percent tax rebate on tax assessments during 2013-2015. […]

Feb. 28 – The cultural and work ethic differences between China and democratic Asia have been bought into sharp focus with the jailing in Singapore of four Chinese bus drivers and the deportation of a further 29. The incident occurred after the drivers, hired from a mainland agency, decided to go on strike after learning […]

Feb. 27 – The Chinese state news agency Xinhua has reported that Chinese troops have been undergoing intensive training near Yunnan’s border with Myanmar as fighting intensifies between Myanmar’s Government forces and the Kachin separatists. Some military shells have already landed in West Yunnan, leading China to step up its surveillance of the deteriorating situation. […]

By Alex Tangkilisan Feb. 27 – In the third part of our ASEAN-India Free Trade Area analysis, we will examine trade trends and statistics from India to Cambodia, Brunei, Laos and the Philippines. While the Philippines is part of the ASEAN six majors, Cambodia, Brunei and Laos are the three smallest economies in the region. […]

Feb. 21 – While the price of Hong Kong office rentals fell last year, its main competitor for Asian focused business, Singapore, is still 52 percent less expensive in the same market. Singapore is increasingly important as a link to both the other ASEAN countries and India, with prices expected to rise starting early this […]

By Alex Tangkilisan Feb. 20 – In the second part of our ASEAN-India Free Trade Area analysis, we will examine trade trends and statistics from India to Indonesia, Vietnam and Myanmar. Indonesia and Vietnam make up two of the major six economies in ASEAN, while Myanmar is one of the four smallest economies in the […]

Feb. 14 – Recent figures from the U.S. Energy Information Administration have revealed that China consumes almost as much coal as the rest of the world combined. Perhaps even more shocking, it has been estimated that India, who currently faces domestic shortages, could be importing as much coal as China by 2017. As the Asian […]