This article was originally published on Brookings by Peter A. Petri and Michael Plummer. On November 15, 2020, 15 countries — members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and five regional partners — signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), arguably the largest free trade agreement in history. RCEP and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement…
This article by Azeem Ibrahim was first published in the Center for Global Policy Myanmar is holding a general election Nov. 8 – the third since 2010, when the military allowed for a very limited amount of space for electoral politics in the country. State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) looks set…
Alberto Giubilini, University of Oxford and Vageesh Jain, UCL – The Conversation To be properly protective, COVID-19 vaccines need to be given to most people worldwide. Only through widespread vaccination will we reach herd immunity – where enough people are immune to stop the disease from spreading freely. To achieve this, some have suggested vaccines…
McKinsey Quarterly interview with the co-CEO of Ping An, Jessica Tan Expect digital to further blur industry lines, supercharge scalability, and loosen geographical restraints for professional services, says Jessica Tan. Ping An is the archetypal example of how today’s Asian powerhouses succeed by creating, participating in, and exploiting digital ecosystems. Founded in 1988 as an…
Bahar Baser, Coventry University and Élise Féron, University of Tampere – The Conversation The signing of a deal to halt the violence in the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in the South Caucasus may have brought a six-week breathing space to the troubled region. But there is already evidence that the ceasefire, while warmly greeted by…
Reet Chaudhuri, Jacob Dahl, Bharath Sattanathan, Joydeep Sengupta – McKinsey & Company Heading into 2020, numerous trends had set a clear path for continued payments growth across Asia. Chief among these was the rapidly expanding number of connected and digitally active consumers, with booming e-commerce markets reinforcing the need for digital solutions. The competitive landscape…
This article was written collaboratively by the McKinsey Center for Future Mobility. The authors include Patrick Hertzke, Jitesh Khanna, Khushboo Kumra, Timo Möller, and Gandharv Vig. COVID-19 has presented India with an unprecedented economic, humanitarian, and healthcare challenge. The lockdown measures have helped contain the spread of the coronavirus but exacted an immense economic toll,…
This briefing was produced by Asia House Advisory. The world’s largest trade deal, driven by Asia Leaders of 15 Asia-Pacific economies – the ASEAN 10 plus Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea – signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) on Sunday 15 November, creating the world’s largest economic bloc. Asia House Advisory provides an…
John R. Allen and Bruce Riedel – Brookings, Order and Chaos Series Saudi Arabia ostensibly started the war in Yemen to prevent Iran from acquiring a foothold on the Arabian Peninsula overlooking the strategic Bab al Mandab straits. Almost six years later, the war has in fact given Iran just that — plus created the worst humanitarian…
