By Simon Tay and Liyana Othman For The Straits Times As the global community seeks to address environmental and climate change concerns, attention has been increasing about palm oil. In recent months, the European Union passed a directive that disallows commodities like palm oil to be used...
Indonesia Jokowi to Double Cash Handouts under PKH (11 Dec) Social Affairs Minister Agus Gumiwan Kartasasmita told reporters that the PKH aid programme would double in scope from US$1.3 billion to US$2.6 billion in 2019. The programme, aimed at 10 million families, will be dispersed in four...
Indonesia 212 Reunion Rally Turns Political (2 Dec) Hundreds of thousands of Indonesian Muslims gathered in Central Jakarta on Sunday, 2 December, to commemorate the second anniversary of widespread protests against Jakarta’s then-governor, Basuki “Ahok” Purnama. The rally also took on a political tone as Islam Defenders...
Indonesia Surprise Rate Hike by Bank Indonesia due to Widening Current Account Deficit (15 Nov) Indonesia’s central bank surprised observers with its sixth rate hike in 2018, bringing its benchmark rate to 6%. Bank Indonesia Governor Perry Warjiyo explained that the hike was aimed at reducing the...
"As businesses and supply chains transform, it is necessary for ASEAN to prepare for the inevitable digitization of the regional economy." - Chen Chen Lee, SIIA director of policy programmes, Nikkei Asian Review commentary Full article: Southeast Asia must guard against digital domination risks [First published in Nikkei...
November 2018 | As the new Pakatan Harapan (PH) government settles in, many expect a shift from electioneering to setting policies and priorities for the Malaysian economy and political reforms. The Budget 2019, delivered recently, can be seen in this light. Prime Minister Dr Mahathir...
In this commentary for the Nikkei Asian Review, SIIA chairman Simon Tay said that more countries will move forward together, cooperating on an intra-Asian basis, without the US. Full article: Trump is inadvertently uniting Asia [First published in Nikkei Asian Review on 12 November 2018]...
While much attention has been paid to ASEAN’s relations with the US and China, its engagement of Australia and New Zealand is equally important. Exploring why and how the three parties are engaging each other was the topic of the 11th ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand (AANZ) Dialogue,...