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Welcome
to Asia-Studies
Full-Text Online |
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The Most Comprehensive and Authoritative Source of
Asia-Pacific Information |
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Asia-Studies Full-Text Online is the premier
database for the study of modern Asia Pacific. As the
exclusive licensee for many of the region's most prestigious research institutions,
Asia-Studies.com brings together thousands of full-text reports covering
55
countries*
on a multitude of business,
government, economic, and social issues. |
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Library Journal
eReview rates Asia-Studies Full-Text
10/10 on content and 9/10 overall. |
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*
Library Journal is a trademark of Media Source |
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We index full-text journals with
open access platforms in our NEW Asia-Studies
Full-Text Plus section. Here is
the
list of journals available. |
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October,
2018 Current Topics |
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Asian Development Outlook 2018
Update
and
Highlights.
Developing Asia's gross domestic product is forecast to expand
by 6.0% in 2018 and 5.8% in 2019. Consumer prices for 2018 and
2019 are projected to rise by 2.8%. Growth in developing Asia
has so far held up against external headwinds. The forecast for
rising inflation is tempered despite higher global fuel and food
prices. Downside risks to the outlook are intensifying. Any
escalation of the trade conflict could disrupt cross-border
production links. While the region is expected to meet the Asian
Development Outlook 2018 forecast of 6.0% growth in 2018, the
projection for 2019 has been trimmed by 0.1 percentage points to
5.8%. Excluding Asia’s high-income newly industrialized
economies, the region is expected to expand by 6.5% this year
and 6.3% in 2019... |
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ADB |
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Key Indicators for
Asia and the Pacific 2018
(Full Report):
Key Indicators for
Asia and the Pacific 2017 covers 48
economies:
Afghanistan,
Armenia,
Australia,
Azerbaijan,
Bangladesh,
Bhutan,
Brunei Darussalam,
Cambodia,
China,
Cook Islands,
Fiji Islands,
Georgia,
Hong
Kong,
India,
Indonesia,
Japan,
Kazakhstan,
Kiribati,
Republic
of Korea,
Kyrgyz Republic,
Lao,
Malaysia,
Maldives,
Marshall Islands,
Micronesia,
Mongolia,
Myanmar,
Nauru,
Nepal,
New Zealand,
Pakistan,
Palau,
Papua New Guinea,
Philippines,
Samoa,
Singapore,
Solomon Islands,
Sri Lanka,
Taipei,
Tajikistan,
Thailand,
Timor-Leste,
Tonga,
Turkmenistan,
Tuvalu,
Uzbekistan,
Vanuatu,
and
Viet Nam. |
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ADB |
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Asia
Bond Monitor, September 2018. Local currency bond
markets in emerging East Asia grew 3.2% from the first quarter
of 2018, with government bonds expanded 4.0% and corporate bonds
rose 1.8%. Local currency (LCY) bond yields in emerging East
Asia diverged due to disparate monetary policy stances across
the region and global economic uncertainties. In the People’s
Republic of China (PRC), yields fell as the central bank reduced
the reserve requirement ratios for some banks, while yields rose
in Indonesia in response to its central bank’s monetary
tightening and in the Philippines where the central bank raised
policy rates in May and June... |
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ADB |
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Latest ADB Publications:
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ADB |
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Latest ADBI Working Paper Series:
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Sectoral Labor Income Share Dynamics: Cross-Country Evidence
from a Novel Data Set, September 2018
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Export Boom, Employment Bust? The Paradox of Indonesia’s
Displaced Workers, 2000–2014, September 2018
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Globalization and Environment in India, September 2018
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The
Use of Financial Technology in the Agriculture Sector,
September 2018
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Regional Variations of Banking Services and Poverty
Reduction: Evidence from Subdistrict Level Administrative
Data of Bangladesh, September 2018
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A
Comparative Study on the Role of Public–Private Partnerships
and Green Investment Banks in Boosting Low-Carbon
Investments, September 2018
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A
“Cap and Invest” Strategy for Managing the Intergenerational
Burden of Financing Energy Transitions, September 2018
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Energy Market Liberalization for Unlocking Community-Based
Green Finance, September 2018
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Central Banking, Climate Change, and Green Finance,
September 2018
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Financial Strategy to Accelerate Green Growth, September
2018
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ADB |
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Latest ADB Working Paper Series:
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ADB |
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Asian Development Review, Vol.
35,
No. 2, 2018 (Full
Report):
This edition of the Asian Development Review brings together
scholars who highlight the need for concrete and rapid actions
to adapt to climate change. The latest
Asian Development Review has a special issue on the climate
change challenge to Asia’s development. Climate change may
reverse the region’s economic development achievements since the
second half of the 20th century and improvements in living
standards. Eight articles in this issue highlight the need for
concrete and rapid actions to adapt to climate change.
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ADB |
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Going Legit? the Foreign Policy of Vladimir Putin, September 2018.
Vladimir Putin’s re-election for a fourth presidential term in May 2018
has enshrined his position as the dominant personality of the
post-Soviet era. Over the next six years, there will be few major
changes to Russian foreign policy. There is broad consensus in Moscow
that this has been outstandingly successful, and that Russia has emerged
as a formidable power. But alongside an overall sense of confidence,
there is also caution and even anxiety. Putin recognises the importance
of tactical flexibility in an international environment that is
increasingly fluid and unpredictable. He is also aware that Russia’s
foreign policy gains are fragile and potentially reversible, and that
the country faces considerable obstacles in its quest to become a
rule-maker in a new, post-American world order... |
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Lowy |
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India's
Continental Connect on Indo-Pacific and Quad 2.0, September 2018.
No aspect of India’s contemporary foreign policy is debated as
much as New Delhi’s approach towards the Quadrilateral
consultative forum (popularly known as the “Quad”) vis-à-vis
China. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech at the Shangri-La
dialogue on June 1, 2018 indicated that he was not deeming the
Indo-Pacific as a “strategy” but viewing China and Russia as
partners within the purview of India’s strategic autonomy. This
has stimulated a debate about whether India’s approach towards
Quad 2.0 is China bound or not. Modi’s attempt to rebuild New
Delhi’s relationship with China post-Doklam has reinvigorated
this debate... |
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EWC |
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US-China
Development Cooperation: New Bilateral Dynamics? September 2018.
In recent years, the US-China relationship has been marked by
competition. The two powers have been wrestling in the South
China Sea and more recently in a trade war, attracting global
attention. The development sector is a less well known aspect in
bilateral relations. China’s rise as the largest emerging donor
is challenging the traditional aid regime led by the United
States and other developed nations. Chinese aid-spending has
increased dramatically since 2000. Not being a member of the
OECD Development Assistance Committee, China is not bound by the
requirements of the institution, and insists on ‘common but
differentiated responsibility.’ ... |
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EWC |
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US-China
Technology Competition is about “Self Transcendence”, September
2018.
Eric Schmidt, then executive chairman of Alphabet, Google's
parent firm, commented on China's AI ambition on November 1,
2017, in Washington DC: "By 2020 the Chinese will have caught up
(to the United States). By 2025 they will be better than us. And
by 2030 they will dominate the industries of AI." Not to miss
the boat, about one and a half months later, Google announced
its first major China move after its search engine left the
mainland in 2010 — that it was opening a Google AI China Center
in Beijing, its first in Asia, led by the Chinese-American
scientist Feifei Li... |
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EWC |
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Hard News and Free Media as the Sharp Edge of Australian Soft
Power, September 2018. In this report, three Asia-Pacific
media specialists have produced three perspectives on the
history, dynamics and politics of funding of the ABC’s
international efforts over the past two decades. They show that,
while Australian politicians and ABC leaders themselves have
been distracted by domestic and institutional issues, other
state-owned media organisations—such as China’s—have expanded
their footprint across Southeast Asia and the South Pacific.
Australian Government decisions over the past decade haven’t
just meant that Australia has trod water while this happened—in
fact, we have stepped back and silenced broadcasts and local
content while others have stepped up... |
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ASPI |
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Too Big to Ignore. Assessing the strategic implications of
China's Belt and Road Initiative, August 2018. This report
identifies the management of one conundrum above all else as the
key to the BRI’s fortunes from a Chinese perspective: the
ability to retain sufficient support from the world’s
governments and institutions as a means of both underpinning its
business case and heading off the possibility of geo-economic
and geostrategic competition... |
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ASPI |
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Latest APEC publications:
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APEC |
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September,
2018 |
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A Return to War: Militarized Conflicts in Northern Shan
State, July 2018.
Myanmar’s internal armed conflict erupted in 1948 just after
it gained independence from Britain. The principle armed
actors in Myanmar’s civil wars have involved the Myanmar
Defense Services, or Tatmadaw, and dozens of armed
resistance groups. In 2008, after decades of militarized
violence under civilian and then military regimes, the
Tatmadaw initiated political reforms which allowed for the
transition to a quasi-democratic or hybrid regime. In 2011,
the newly elected Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP)
government commenced engagement with ethnic armed
organizations (EAOs) in an effort to resolve the
long-running civil war. These efforts have been continued by
the National League for Democracy (NLD)-led government since
March 2016.... |
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ISDP |
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Air Warfare Destroyer - The Game-Changer, August 2018 is
Robert’s second monograph for the ASPI case studies in defence
projects series which brings out the human drama and dilemmas of
decision-making in what is a multi-billion-dollar, high-stakes
business to equip the Australian Defence Force. Our aim, which
he delivers on superbly, is to present a balanced, ‘warts and
all’ account of the challenges involved in getting these
decisions right. There’s so much more to complex project
management than simply cost, schedule and capacity. Robert shows
how politics (both big and little p), technology, budgeting and
the fallibility of human decision-making all intersect to make
the defence capability development and acquisition business one
of the most demanding of all public sector tasks... |
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ASPI |
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Mice that Roar, August 2018. This report argues that over
the past five years, there’s been an increase in coastguard and
maritime border response capabilities across much of ASEAN.
ASEAN states have primarily focused their new capabilities on
enhancing physical presence patrols and response within their
respective exclusive economic zones (EEZs). Coastguards have
become important strategic cushions between navies in ASEAN.
Underpinning this regional maritime strategic trend is an
assumption that coastguard vessels are less threatening, in
terms of their potential use of force, to the captains and crews
of other nations’ vessels during unplanned encounters at sea... |
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ASPI |
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Anti-Money Laundering. A Case Study, July 2018. The
Australian Government’s technological monopolies have ended.
Technological developments, especially those that have been
disruptive, have been driven primarily by private corporations
for at least the past 10 years. Meanwhile, legislative responses
to those changes, be they disruptive or otherwise, have been
increasingly delayed. Acceleration in the development and use of
technology has been matched by changes in the capability of
those who would do us harm. In the face of rapid social change,
governments have lost more than a technological edge, as the
very conceptualisations of sovereignty and geographical
jurisdictions are being challenged... |
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ASPI |
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National Security in the Philippines Under Duterte, June 2018.
In May 2016, Rodrigo Duterte, the long-term mayor of Davao City,
won a resounding victory in the Philippines national
presidential election, becoming the country’s first elected
leader from the conflict-ravaged province of Mindanao. He has
since set in train a highly populist agenda that has seen
internal security and stability as the main priority of his
tenure. Central to that focus has been countering terrorism,
ending longstanding armed insurgencies and addressing violent
crime at home, while pursuing a flexible policy overseas that’s
aimed at giving him sufficient time and space to deal with
pressing domestic concerns... |
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ASPI |
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Latest APEC publications:
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Effective Coalbed Methane (CBM) Recovery Technologies for
APEC Developing Economies, July 2018
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Promoting Innovative Green Financing Mechanisms for
Sustainable and Quality Infrastructure Development in the
APEC Region, August 2018
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APEC Oil and Gas Security Exercise in Peru, May 2018
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Project Report on the Five Years Construction of the First
Low-Carbon Town - Yujiapu CBD, May 2018
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Energy Security of APEC Economies and Changing Downstream
Oil Environment, August 2018
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Advanced Capacity Building for Mycotoxin Prevention and
Control in Food and Feed Commodities in Asia-Pacific, July
2018
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Best Practices on Standards and Conformity Assessment
Implementation for Eco-Design Products in the APEC Region,
June 2018
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APEC Forum: Promoting Stakeholders' Building Capacities in
Clusters and Local Economic Promotion Instruments, May 2018
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APEC Energy Efficiency Policy Workshop 2018 Summary Report:
Conformity Assessment Approaches, August 2018
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SCE Fora Assessment: Counter- Terrorism Working Group, 2018
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SCE Fora Assessment: Group of Friends on Disability, 2018
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SCE Fora Assessment: Energy Working Group, 2018
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SCE Fora Assessment: Human Resources Development Working
Group, 2018
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APEC Information Sharing Best Practices on Merger Control
Regimes, July 2018
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Investments in Natural Gas Supply Chain under the Low Price
Environment, June 2018
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Renewed APEC Agenda for Structural Reform (RAASR) - Mid-Term
Review Report, August 2018
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APEC's Ease of Doing Business – Interim Assessment
2015-2017, August 2018
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APEC |
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Indonesia's Economy: Between Growth and Stability, August 2018.
Views of the Indonesian economy oscillate between optimism that it is
set to become the world’s next economic giant and fear of renewed
instability. Such views, however, get the story backwards. Indonesian
policymakers have consistently prioritised stability over growth. The
more concerning issue is that the economy is now heading into its fifth
consecutive year of subdued growth. Although growth is solid at about 5
per cent a year, it is inadequate in terms of the job creation and
economic modernisation required to meet Indonesia’s development needs
and ambitions. The problems are structural... |
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Lowy |
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ASEAN–Australia Relations: The Suitable Status Quo, August 2018.
The first ASEAN–Australia Special Summit held in Sydney in March 2018
led some Australian commentators to advocate for Australia to join the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Even if Australian
membership could be made possible by changing the ASEAN Charter and
achieving a consensus among ASEAN member states in favour of membership,
it would not serve Australian interests in Southeast Asia as well as
Australia’s current dialogue partner relationship with ASEAN... |
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Lowy |
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Unregulated Population Migration and Other Future Drivers of Instability
in the Pacific, July 2018.
Unregulated population migration within the Pacific has serious security
and stability implications for the region, including Australia and New
Zealand. Drivers of unregulated population migration include
non‑traditional security challenges such as changing environmental and
climatic conditions, disaster management, food and water scarcity, and
pandemics. Other drivers include man‑made stresses such as civil
conflict and fragile and unstable governments, growing interest from
external actors, and organised crime... |
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Lowy |
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“Americanism, Not Globalism”: President Trump and the American Mission,
July 2018.
From the end of the Second World War, the dominant current of American
exceptionalism in the rhetoric and outlook of US presidents has been the
belief that the United States has a special mission to redeem the world
by extending liberty and democracy to all peoples. However, President
Donald Trump is an exception. He believes that in the post-Cold War era
successive administrations in Washington have pursued reckless visions
of regional or global hegemony — especially in the Middle East — leaving
the home front to languish and the nation open to ridicule... |
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Lowy |
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Australia-US
Convergence on the "Indo-Pacific": AUSMIN 2018, August 2018.
The AUSMIN meeting held last month brought together the US
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defense James
Mattis with the Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie
Bishop and Minister for Defense Marise Payne. Its Indo-Pacific
focus was unmistakable. Whereas the 2017 AUSMIN Joint
Declaration mentioned the “Indo-Pacific” but once and for the
first time at AUSMIN, the 2018 Joint Declaration mentioned the
“Indo-Pacific” 11 times; with the “Asia-Pacific,” the previously
dominant term of strategic reference, unmentioned... |
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EWC |
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India-Indonesia Relations and Indo-Pacific Security, August 2018.
Though India and Indonesia do have long historical and cultural
linkages, strategic partnership has been a recent development.
The two share multiple common concerns, one of which pertains to
China’s rapid rise and its intentions in the maritime theater.
Since 2014, the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has
been trying to boost India’s ties with many Southeast Asian
countries as part of its ‘Act East Policy’ which was recently
manifest in his visit to Indonesia in late May just ahead of his
first-ever speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore... |
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EWC |
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Malaysia's
Development Depends on International and Domestic Support for
Maritime Connectivity, August 2018. Southeast Asia consists
of two portions, mainland Southeast Asia and maritime Southeast
Asia. More than 80 percent of the region’s surface is covered by
the ocean, which means that maritime connectivity is crucial for
the development of trade and transportation. The region contains
several of the world’s busiest international sea lines of
communication. Several major ports are located there, namely,
the Port of Singapore and Port Klang and Port of Tanjung Pelepas
(PTP) in Malaysia. The Strait of Malacca receives an average of
80,000 vessels annually... |
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EWC |
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Unraveling
China’s Investments in Malaysia, August 2018. China was not
an important investor in Malaysia prior to 2012. However, after
the announcement of “One Belt, One Road” (or OBOR) in late 2013
— subsequently renamed the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) —
Malaysia has increasingly attracted more investments from China.
According to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)’s China Going
Global Investment Index, which ranks 59 major economies in terms
of their attractiveness to Chinese firms, Malaysia’s ranking
jumped up from 20th in 2015 to fourth in 2017. While the speed
at which China’s investment has increased has attracted public
attention and concern, there are other dimensions to China’s
investment that may not be so obvious to the public eye... |
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EWC |
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Malaysia's
Defense Policy After the 2018 Elections, August 2018. The
shocking election win by Malaysia’s opposition coalition in the
country’s general elections in May raised the prospect of
dramatic changes across Malaysia’s politics, economics, and
society. But one of the other key areas of uncertainty is the
security realm, and how Malaysia’s approach could shift over the
next few years under the new Pakatan Harapan (PH) government
currently led by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad... |
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EWC |
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Malaysia's May
2018 General Election and Foreign Policy, August 2018. The
14th Malaysian General Elections (GE14) held in May saw the then
main opposition alliance of Pakatan Harapan, together with an
allied party from East Malaysia, win a surprising 121 of 222
Parliamentary seats, allowing them to form a simple majority
government. Former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad is once
again leading the nation at the age of 92. The Barisan Nasional
coalition, which ruled from even before independence, now sits
on the opposition bench alongside the Islamist party PAS, while
Barisan’s election allies from Sarawak in East Malaysia already
have left the coalition to form an independent block of their
own... |
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EWC |
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Myanmar Opens
a New Chapter in Dealing with Big Neighbor China, July 2018.
Myanmar’s Shan state — the country’s biggest state — has a long
border with China, and is on the cusp of becoming the axis of
the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC), part of China’s Belt
and Road Initiative (BRI). It is home to the famed “Burma Road”
which had been a lifeline for the Republic of China before and
during WWII — a conduit for US war supplies to the beleaguered
Chinese forces holding back a Japanese invasion. And long before
it was the “Burma Road” the route had seen trade and invasion
from China into Myanmar for centuries. Tea, opium, silver, and
lead were among the commodities carried by mule caravans to
Yunnan and beyond... |
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EWC |
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Trends in
Southeast Asia 2018 #19: Agriculture in Johor: What’s Left?
Despite decades of industrialization, Johor remains an
agricultural powerhouse. The state is Peninsular Malaysia’s
largest contributor to agricultural gross domestic product, and
its official agricultural productivity is Malaysia’s third
highest. Johor’s agricultural strengths lie primarily in product
specialization, namely the farming of oil palms, various fruits
and vegetables, poultry, pigs, cut flowers, and ornamental fish.
Johor’s production clusters have taken decades, if not
centuries, to build up their regional dominance. Urbanization,
often blamed for diminishing agriculture’s importance, has
actually helped drive Johor’s farm growth, even until the
present day... |
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ISEAS |
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SME Policies and Performance in Malaysia, July 2018 This
study aims to achieve two major objectives. First, to assess
policies and initiatives implemented for the development of
small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia from the
Eighth Malaysia Plan (2001-2005) to the Eleventh Malaysia Plan
(2016-2020) as well as the SME Masterplan (2012-2020). Second,
to analyze the performances and contributions of SMEs in
Malaysia. The study provides a critical analysis of the adequacy
of the Eleventh Malaysia Plan for SME development including
whether the targeted goals for SMEs towards 2020 can be
achieved... |
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ISEAS |
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Latest ADBI Working Paper Series:
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Bank of Japan’s Exchange-Traded Fund Purchases as an
Unprecedented Monetary Easing Policy, August 2018
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The
Impact of Increased Import Competition from the People’s
Republic of China on Income Inequality and Household Welfare
in Viet Nam, August 2018
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Green Energy Finance in India: Challenges and Solutions,
August 2018
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Financial Barriers to Development of Renewable and Green
Energy Projects in Asia, August 2018
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Implications of Fiscal and Financial Policies for Unlocking
Green Finance and Green Investment, August 2018
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Stimulating Non-Bank Financial Institutions’ Participation
in Green Investments, August 2018
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Breaking Par: Short-Term Determinants of Yen-Dollar Swap
Deviations, August 2018
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Financial Inclusion, Regulation, and Literacy in Uzbekistan,
August 2018
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Credit Risk Reduction Effect on Small and Medium-Sized
Enterprise Finance through the Use of Bank Account
Information, August 2018
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Financing Solar Photovoltaic Transitions: From Utility to
Residential Market Adoption in Emerging Economies, August
2018
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Managing Credit Risk and Improving Access to Finance in
Green Energy Projects, August 2018
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Land Acquisition and Infrastructure Development through Land
Trust Laws: A Policy Framework for Asia, August 2018
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An
Overview of Islamic Banking and Finance in Asia, August 2018
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High-Speed Railway, Market Access, and Economic Growth,
August 2018
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ADB |
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Latest ADB Economics Working Papers:
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ADB |
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Latest ADB Publications:
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ADB |
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August,
2018 |
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International Journal of Korean Studies,
Volume XXI, Number 2, 2017
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IJKS |
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Study on Single Window Systems' International Interoperability:
Key Issues for Its Implementation, August 2018.
This paper discusses the general framework of Single Window
System International Interoperability (SWSII) by introducing
common concepts and the ten SWSII principles, the latter being
uniquely formulated for this particular study. With only a
handful Regional Single Window (RSW) implementations globally,
it reviews ASEAN, the Pacific Alliance and RADDEx by outlining
common themes and translating them into lessons learned. It also
showcases the single window journeys of three economies namely
Australia, Indonesia and Peru. These economies are at different
stages of their SWS and SWSII initiative, but yet demonstrate
the benefits of effective, efficient and reduced cost of trade
across the milieu... |
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APEC |
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Financing Food Value Chain, June 2018.
Following an earlier policy brief that looks at various services
in a food value chain, this policy brief delves deeper into one
of them – financial services. The brief begins by describing a
value chain example and identifying where and what types of
financing are typically needed. It then discusses various
financing instruments or financing structures that are used by
financial services suppliers to grant financing. Finance
structures usually vary depending on the risks they are trying
to mitigate. The brief also reviews the challenges of getting
finance, followed by discussion on risks and insurance in the
food value chain and finally on policy implications. |
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APEC |
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China’s Local
Governments and Small Enterprises as Overseas Investors, July
2018.
Xi Jinping is widely seen as being China’s most powerful leader
since Deng Xiaoping and perhaps since Mao. While it is right and
prudent to focus on what Xi says and does (and loudly says that
he wants), there is a danger that analysis of China’s trajectory
and international impact is becoming too Xi-centric. Even if
observers are not specifically fixated on what Xi as an
individual wants, they may nevertheless be overly focussed on
the goals and ambitions of the central Chinese state, and
overlook the interests and objectives of actors below the
national level. Take the expansion of Chinese overseas
investment as an example. The actions of Chinese companies
overseas are often perceived as an illustration of Chinese
economic statecraft, with companies acting on behalf of the
state to attain strategic objectives... |
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EWC |
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Thailand’s
Political Dynamics and the Consequences for Regional Economic
Integration, July 2018.
Thailand will assume the chair of the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2019. As the chair has the ability to
set forth certain regional agendas, the Kingdom’s vision and
positions will affect not only economic integration within
ASEAN, but also the bloc’s economic relations with non-ASEAN
players. History teaches us that a state’s domestic political
dynamics can significantly alter its foreign economic policies.
Will this be the case for Thailand? Although the country’s GDP
grew by 4.8% in the first quarter of 2018 – the fastest rate
since 2013 — this upturn did not increase the junta’s popularity
among the Thai public. For one thing, the distribution of
benefits were uneven... |
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EWC |
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Economic
Pragmatism and Regional Economic Integration: The Case of
Cambodia, July 2018.
Cambodia’s foreign policy strategy has been chiefly shaped and
driven by “economic pragmatism,” meaning the alignment of
foreign policy with economic development interests. The
Cambodian government’s two main approaches to regional economic
integration are (1) transforming the international environment
into a source of national development and (2) diversifying
strategic partnerships based on the calculation of economic
interests. International economic cooperation and regional
integration are key principles of Cambodia’s foreign policy,
which emphasizes shared development and win-win cooperation... |
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EWC |
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Constraints to
India’s Support for Regional Economic Integration, July 2018.
In February 2018, India regained its position as the fastest
growing large economy in the world, growing at more than seven
percent for three preceding quarters and surpassing China.
However, despite support for sub-regional integration in the Bay
of Bengal region, the prospect that India will lead the charge
on regional integration or even play a central role in efforts
in Asia overall, remains dim. Several constraining factors, many
of which have to do with India’s domestic political economy,
make such a leadership role unlikely. Pushback from interest
groups, India’s federal structure and the ruling party’s
nationalist rhetoric are among several that shape India’s
approach to economic liberalization in general and regional
integration in particular... |
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EWC |
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Chinese
Investment & Workers in Indonesia’s Upcoming Elections, July
2018.
As China steps up its investments in Indonesia, more Chinese
workers are migrating there, creating resentment among the local
population. This could become an important and destabilizing
issue in the context of Indonesian elections to be held in April
2019. While the Indonesian Ministry of Manpower records only
around 25,000 Chinese workers overall in the country,
discredited reports circulating online claiming that millions of
Chinese workers are flooding into the Indonesian job market have
in recent years sparked major public debates about the role of
Chinese workers in the country. The most recent debate took
place from March to May 2018, when President Joko Widodo
(popularly known as Jokowi) issued a presidential regulation
simplifying existing procedures for foreigners wanting to work
in Indonesia... |
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EWC |
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The Domestic
Political Impact of Rapid Economic Change in the Indo-Pacific
Region, July 2018.
Nowhere in the world are these impacts more visible and more
dynamic than in the nations of the Indo-Pacific, many of which
will hold elections within the next year. These challenges are
not new, but they have intensified. Beginning in the 1980s, the
revolution in communications technology and the advent of
large-scale container shipping swept across East and Southeast
Asia, connecting people and markets as never before. In the
1990s, burgeoning production networks linked the more
competitive and investment-friendly developing economies—such as
Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, South Korea, and Taiwan—with
world markets, leaving more closed economies such as Laos,
Myanmar, and India lagging behind... |
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EWC |
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Trends in
Southeast Asia 2018 #18: U.S. Relations with Southeast Asia in
2018: More Continuity Than Change. The United States
maintains a comprehensive and robust presence throughout
Southeast Asia that has grown dramatically since the 1980s. It
includes the commercial, security, education and diplomatic, and
other domains. America’s strengths and contributions to the
region lie particularly in both hard and soft power, but the
U.S. economic footprint is both broad and deep. However, this
presence is not very well appreciated or reported by regional
media — whereas China’s presence and influence is pervasive.
Most Southeast Asian governments are often reluctant to
recognize or publicize the U.S. presence or contributions to
regional security, stability, and growth... |
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ISEAS |
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Trends in
Southeast Asia 2018 #17: The Private Healthcare Sector in Johor:
Trends and Prospects. The future of the private
healthcare in Johor and in the Iskandar Malaysia (IM) special
economic zone in particular is intimately tied to larger
property developments and trends in the region, both because
private healthcare developers are increasingly the same as
property developers and because IM’s future population growth
relies heavily on corporate settlement in IM and the jobs that
such settlement generates. Volatility in corporate investment
and settlement in IM may have significant consequences for the
sector’s development. The Federal and Johor State Governments
intend to turn IM into a world-class private healthcare
destination for local residents and foreign visitors alike. A
range of strategies and policies have been launched to develop
IM’s medical care, aged care, and lifestyle and well-being
sectors... |
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ISEAS |
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Trends in
Southeast Asia 2018 #16: Developing Eastern Johor: The Pengerang
Integrated Petroleum Complext. The Pengerang Integrated
Petroleum Complex (PIPC) is a huge development that has emerged
on the east coast of Johor. Comprising Petronas’ largest
refinery facility and numerous ancillary and supporting
industrial areas, it is pegged to diversify Malaysia’s
petrochemical industry and reap the benefits of the area’s
fortunate position on international maritime trade routes. While
initial responses to the PIPC development were of concern for
Singapore’s oil and gas business, the island-nation’s long
reputation and position in the industry means that the PIPC has
some steep learning curves to traverse before coming on par with
its southerly neighbour. However, the PIPC is likely to provide
a solution to Singapore’s limitations in terms of costly
services and limited land space. It may also rejuvenate an
industry now seen by some SMEs to be somewhat stagnant... |
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ISEAS |
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Trends in
Southeast Asia 2018 #15: State Formation in Riau Islands
Province. The formation of the Riau Islands Province
(RIP) in 2002 is argued to be part of a broader trend of
pemekaran (blossoming) that saw the creation of seven new
provinces and more than 100 new districts throughout Indonesia
after the fall of the New Order. This article argues that the
main motivation for these subnational movements was a
combination of rational interests and cultural sentiments. In
the case of RIP, rational interests involved struggles over
unfair distribution of power and resources, including the way
development under the control of (mainland) Riau Province had
been detrimental to the peripheral and archipelagic people of
Riau Islands... |
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ISEAS |
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Asian Development Outlook 2018 Supplement: The Outlook Remains
Stable, July 2018. Developing Asia is largely on
track to meet growth expectations as set out in April in Asian
Development Outlook 2018 (ADO 2018). The regional gross domestic
product (GDP) is forecast to expand by 6.0% in 2018 and 5.9% in
2019, the rate envisaged in April, with subregional forecasts
upgraded for Central Asia. Regional growth forecasts are
maintained at 6.5% for 2018 and 6.4% for 2019 when excluding the
newly industrialized economies of Hong Kong, China; the Republic
of Korea; Singapore; and Taipei,China. The combined growth
forecast for the major industrial economies—the United States
(US), the euro area, and Japan—is retained from ADO 2018 as
growth in the US and the euro area remains robust. In Japan,
though, unanticipated contraction in the first quarter (Q1)
prompts a slight revision of the 2018 growth... |
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ADB |
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Asia
Bond Monitor, June 2018. Emerging East Asia’s local
currency bond market registered marginal growth of 1.1%
quarter-on-quarter in the first quarter of 2018 to reach a size
of USD12.8 trillion at the end of March. Significant bond
inflows were noted in emerging East Asia at the beginning of
2018, with all markets with available data recording inflows due
to positive investor sentiment. Yields in emerging East Asia
trended upward between 1 March and 31 May amid global economic
expansion and tightening United States (US) monetary policy.
However, as the US continued its policy normalization in Q1
2018, emerging East Asia currencies depreciated, which led
foreign investors to reduce their exposure to the region... |
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ADB |
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Pacific Economic Monitor, July 2018. Access to
electricity is low in the Pacific, particularly in the more
remote and less developed parts of the subregion. Factors
contributing to this include dependence on costly fossil fuels
for power generation, inadequate investment in infrastructure,
and electricity services that may be beyond the means of poorer
rural households. To help address these challenges, most Pacific
governments are taking steps to shift toward renewable energy
and ultimately meet ambitious targets under international
climate change commitments. Further, they have made strategic
investments in more effi cient transmission networks, and better
collection and payment systems... |
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ADB |
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Fiscal
Policy Conditions for Government Budget Stability and Economic
Recovery: Comparative Analysis of Japan and Greece, July 2018.
In the literature on fiscal sustainability, the Domar condition
and Bohn’s condition are often used to check whether a
government’s debt situation is in a dangerous zone. We first
show that the Domar condition is obtained only from the
government budget constraint (namely the supply of government
bonds) and does not take into account the demand for government
bonds. Second, we reveal that Bohn’s condition does not satisfy
the condition of economic stability: even if this is satisfied,
economic recovery may not be achieved. We propose a new
condition that satisfies both the stability of the government
budget and the recovery of the economy... |
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ADB |
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Financial Inclusion, Financial Regulation, Financial Literacy,
and Financial Education in the Kyrgyz Republic, July 2018.
While financial inclusion is considered one of the key drivers
of development today, it is quite new to the Kyrgyz Republic.
The Kyrgyz Republic attempted to introduce the notion of
financial inclusion after a violent power shift in 2010. The
economy experienced an overall decline, the banking sector
shrank, and financial intermediation slowed down. The National
Bank introduced a number of regulatory measures to tighten the
supervision of the financial sector and increase consumer
protection. Some of the efforts have worked well: the banking
sector has rebounded, savings have been mobilized, and financial
markets have started developing. However, national development
patterns, such as unstable economic growth, a high poverty rate,
and weak governance are the key vulnerabilities for increasing
inclusivity of financial products and services... |
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ADB |
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Latest ADB Publications:
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July,
2018 |
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High
Frequency Macroeconomic Forecasts Current Quarter Model:
2018Q3, July 2018. According to its High Frequency
Macroeconomic Forecast, real GDP is estimated to grow by
4.4% in 18Q2, extending the strong 4.7% GDP growth in
18Q1, reflecting high domestic demand. In 18Q3, real GDP
growth is expected to moderate to 3.9% when compared
with the same period last year. Comparing to the 3.8%
growth in 2017 as a whole, we expect Hong Kong’s GDP
will grow at faster pace at 4.0% in 2018... |
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HKU |
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Virginia Review of Asian
Studies 2018. |
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VRAS |
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Raising Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty Rates and Tightening
Loan-to-Value Limits to Promote a Stable and Sustainable
Property Market, May 2018.
In this paper, we introduce the Makan Index as a measure of the
cost of eating out. This measure was built on survey data (n =
2,389) collected using a standard set of food items across 26 (URA)
planning areas in Singapore, focusing on only three types of
eating places: coffee shops, hawker centres and food courts. The
Index was then compared across different planning areas and its
correlation with socioeconomic characteristics of the planning
areas was analysed. The results of this study show that the cost
of eating out differs across planning areas... |
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IPS |
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Religion and the Secular State in Uzbekistan, June 2018.
Major political and economic reforms have been initiated
since Shavkat Mirziyoyev became the country’s President in
fall 2016. The interaction between state and religion has
been part and parcel of this reform process. This area is a
contentious one, rife with confusion. Many consider Central
Asia peripheral to the Muslim world, but in fact the
territory of present-day Uzbekistan occupies a central
position in the history and development of the religion. The
intellectual effervescence of the region a millennium ago,
which has recently been dubbed the “Lost Enlightenment,”
included advances in both science, philosophy and theology,
as well as the rise of Islamic mysticism... |
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ISDP |
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Australia in Space: Views from The Strategist, June 2018.
The first of July 2018 marks an important day for Australia’s
quest to become a more important actor in space, with the
creation of an Australian Space Agency under the leadership of
Megan Clark. For the first time, Australia looks to have
direction, coordination and focus in its endeavours beyond
earth. Understanding what this means for Australia is the focus
of this report. The decision to boldly go into space marks an
important step forward for Australia, which traditionally has
been content to be dependent on foreign providers for space
capability... |
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ASPI |
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ASEAN’s Role
in the US Indo-Pacific Strategy, June 2018.
Kavi Chongkittavorn, Visiting Fellow at the East-West Center in
Washington, explains that “All in all, it is incumbent on ASEAN
to reach out to the United States, Japan, India, and Australia.”
Ever since US President Donald Trump announced the Indo-Pacific
strategy at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders’
meeting in November, 2017 at Danang, Vietnam, the leaders from
of the 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN), have been anxious trying to figure out what it
really means and to understand the possible long-term regional
implications... |
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EWC |
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Getting Singapore in Shape: Economic Challenges and How to Meet Them,
June 2018.
The transformation of the Singapore economy over the past five decades
has been impressive, producing rapid economic growth and delivering
extraordinary improvements in social welfare. During that period,
Singapore has evolved into a developed economy with multiple engines of
growth including globally competitive manufacturing clusters, one of the
world’s pre-eminent financial and transportation centres, and the
location for regional or global headquarters of major corporations... |
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Lowy |
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Trends in
Southeast Asia 2018 #14: Pancasila and the Challenge of
Political Islam: Past and Present. Islam has become an
important symbol in post-Suharto Indonesia, and political
figures or parties feel they cannot afford to be seen to be
against the religion or be considered unfriendly to it. Islamism
emerges to challenge Pancasila (or cultural pluralism) again.
Islamists already challenged Pancasila soon after Indonesian
independence. But during that initial era under Sukarno, this
challenge was already under control. Under Suharto, Pancasila as
an ideology was effectively used to govern Indonesia, and
political Islam was suppressed. However, Suharto began to co-opt
Islamic political leaders during the last decade of his rule... |
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ISEAS |
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Trends in
Southeast Asia 2018 #13: The “Free and Open Indo-Pacific” and
Implications for ASEAN. In recent times, the United
States, Japan and Australia have all promoted extremely similar
visions of a Free and Open Indo-Pacific as the central
organizing concept to guide their efforts in the region. The
concept is essentially a reaffirmation of the security and
economic rules-based order which was cobbled together after the
Second World War — especially as it relates to freedom of the
regional and global commons such as sea, air and cyberspace, and
the way nations conduct economic relations. Be that as it may,
the Free and Open Indo-Pacific is an updated vision of
collective action to defend, strengthen and advance that order.
It signals a greater acceptance by the two regional allies of
the U.S. of their security burden and takes into account the
realities of China’s rise and the relative decline in dominance
of the U.S... |
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ISEAS |
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Trends in
Southeast Asia 2018 #12: Living on the Edge: Being Malay (and
Bugis) in the Riau Islands. In Indonesia’s Riau Islands
Province — a place envisioned as a distinctly “Malay Province”
upon its legal formation in 2002 — ethnic Malays are the proud
heirs and custodians of a rich legacy associated with a
once-sprawling Malay empire that stretched across present-day
transnational borders from Indonesia, to Singapore, to Malaysia.
Malays of Bugis descent have long played a disproportionately
central role in the history (and the historiography or
“history-telling”) of the region that now encompasses
Indonesia’s Riau Islands Province. While steadfastly “Malay”,
members of this community readily acknowledge that their
ethnically Bugis roots maintain an enduring historical and
ideological salience in their everyday lives... |
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ISEAS |
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Trends in
Southeast Asia 2018 #11: Indonesia and China’s Belt and Road
Initiatives: Perspectives, Issues and Prospects. For
Indonesia, which is keen to accelerate its infrastructure
development, Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is seen as an
opportunity to tap into China’s huge financial resources and
technological capability. There has however been no concrete BRI
project agreed to between China and Indonesia so far. While
China considers all projects, including infrastructure projects
and economic interactions as part of BRI, Indonesia only
considers those infrastructure projects initiated during the Xi
Jinping period as BRI projects... |
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ISEAS |
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Financial Inclusion, Financial Literacy, and Financial Education
in Georgia, June 2018. Georgia is outperforming
developing Eastern European and Central Asian countries in terms
of access to finance but is very much behind in terms of usage
of financial products and technologies. We provide a
comprehensive overview of the current state of financial
inclusion and financial literacy in Georgia based on the latest
literature, statistical evidence, and recent surveys. We review
current government policy initiatives and strategy documents
aimed at improving financial access of SMEs and households;
analyze the state of the regulatory framework in Georgia; focus
on the causes behind the current low levels of financial
inclusion and financial literacy among the young, the poor, and
the rural population; and provide policy recommendations to
comprehensively address the financial inclusion problem in
Georgia. |
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ADB |
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International Outsourcing, Environmental Costs, and Welfare,
June 2018. Firms in the North remain unaccountable
for the environmental costs of outsourcing; tight environmental
regulations and international cooperation are needed to improve
environmental conditions in outsourcing sites in the South. We
explore the welfare consequences of international outsourcing in
the presence of resulting environmental damage in a three-stage
model of North–South trade. In stage 1, outsourcing firms in the
North (e.g., United States and Europe）cause environmental damage
to the vendor country in the South, as exemplified by the
People’s Republic of China. But, as its primary goal, the South
pursuing economic development is willing to bear the costs of
environmental degradation... |
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ADB |
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Financial Inclusion, Regulation, Financial Literacy, and
Financial Education in Tajikistan, June 2018.
Tajikistan has a long way to go to for its population to achieve
sufficient understanding of different financial products. We
analyze financial inclusion, literacy, and education in
Tajikistan. We discuss the progress in financial inclusion and
the sector’s response to the major external shock associated
with the sharp fall in Tajik labor migrants’ remittances. We
analyze the policies dealing with different aspects of financial
inclusion with a focus on the regulatory framework, penetration
of new financial technologies, and the existing barriers to
inclusion; and we give recommendations on how to improve
financial inclusion and financial literacy in the country. |
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ADB |
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Deep Economic Integration and State Capacity: A Mechanism for
Avoiding the Middle-Income Trap? June 2018. Exiting
the middle-income trap requires costly improvements in state
capacity. Can deep economic integration increase state capacity
and, if so, how? This paper provides a conceptual framework, new
measurement, and evidence. Focusing on a panel of European Union
membership candidate countries, this paper documents the large
variation in the evolution of state capacities and empirically
identify key links and implementation sequences. The main result
is the centrality of an intricate relationship between
bureaucratic independence and judiciary capacity. Change in
these two is a precondition for increasing internal and external
competitions, which are key factors for successfully escaping
the middle-income trap. |
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ADB |
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Latest ADB Publications:
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Pacific Energy Update 2018
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Asian Development Bank Sustainability Report 2018
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Building Resiliency in the Pacific, Published 2018
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Building Bridges: Lessons from Problem-Solving in Viet Nam,
Published 2018
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Inclusive Business in the Asia–Pacific Economic Cooperation,
June 2018
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Closing the Financing Gap in Asian Infrastructure, June 2018
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Decision Makers' Guide to Road Tolling in CAREC Countries,
June 2018
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Embracing E-commerce in Asia and the Pacific, June 2018
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Tourism as a Driver of Growth in the Pacific: A Pathway to
Growth and Prosperity for Pacific Island Countries, June
2018
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Trade Costs, Time, and Supply Chain Reliability, June 2018
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ICT for Better Education in the Pacific, May 2018
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ADB |
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Latest APEC publications:
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APEC |
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