ASEAN and the world

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected that Cambodia will be the third-fastest growing economy in ASEAN next year and fastest growing economy in the region by 2025.

Singapore has launched a regional centre to help ASEAN member states prepare for the future of work.

The World Bank (WB) has revised down Malaysia’s economic growth forecast this year to a contraction of 4.9 percent, from an early estimate of minus 3.1 percent, following a sharper than expected contraction in the second quarter of 2020.

(CPV) - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a USD180 million loan to construct a 34-kilometer water transmission system that will help transfer 818 million liters of water a day to Yangon, the largest city in Myanmar.

The Malaysian government is committed to continue helping small and medium enterprises (SMEs) along their recovery path in the upcoming Budget 2021, said Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz.

Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea (RoK) Kang Kyung Wha co-chaired the 10th Mekong-RoK Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on September 28.

The ASEAN-Korea Centre (AKC) has recently held the 2020 ASEAN Youth Career Mentorship Programme in the form of a teleconference, where many questions regarding visa, labour market and employment were cleared up.

(CPV) - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a USD300 million loan to finance inclusive water supply and sanitation infrastructure and services in secondary towns of Rajasthan, India.

The ASEAN Committee in Rome (ACR) will work to support the concretisation of the development partnership between ASEAN and Italy, said Vietnamese Ambassador to Italy Nguyen Thi Bich Hue.

(CPV) - Improving global investment sentiment and financial conditions provided a much-needed lift for local currency bond markets in emerging East Asia, despite risks from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, says the latest issue of the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Asia Bond Monitor.

Singapore’s population has shrunk for the first time since 2003 as travel curbs and job losses brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic have pushed foreign workers from the global business hub.

Thailand’s economy is expected to return to normal within two years as the government has tried to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, said Thai Deputy Prime Minister Supattanapong Punmeechaow on September 25.

A 30MW solar power station located in Krakor district, Pursat province of Cambodia,has been connected to the country’s national grid as it enters its testing and commissioning phase.

Indonesia’s state budget deficit had reached 500.5 trillion Rp (33.96 billion USD) by the end of August, equivalent to 3.05 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said on September 22.

Torrential rains left by storm Noul has caused severe flooding in a number of localities in Cambodia and forced local authorities to issue emergency state to limit travelling as water level in rivers continues to rise.

The Philippines may lose in the banana export war amid continued stiff competition in the global market, prompting the government to allocate some 263 million peso (12.49 million USD to save the local banana industry.

(CPV) - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a USD1 million knowledge and support technical assistance project to deploy smart, energy efficient, and disease resilient centralized air-conditioning (CAC) systems in its developing member countries (DMCs).

As many as 22 provinces of Thailand have been severely affected by flash floods triggered by tropical Storm Noul, a senior government official has said.

Two extremely rare Javan rhinoceros calves have been spotted in an Indonesian national park, boosting hopes for the future of one of the world’s most endangered mammals.

Malaysia’s domestic tourism continued to record better performance last year, recording a double-digit growth of 12 percent to 92.6 billion RM (22.4 billion USD), according to Bernama news agency.

Japan and Malaysia on September 18 signed a mutual currency swap arrangement to allow each side to provide the other up to 3 billion USD to prevent a financial crisis, the Japanese Finance Ministry said.

The 23rd ASEAN Finance Ministers’ and Central Bank Governors’ Meeting Plus Three (AFMGM+3) was held virtually on September 18, with discussions focusing on a wide range of measures to promote regional economic growth.

France, Germany, and the United Kingdom have come together to issue a joint note verbale to the United Nations in order to challenge China’s claims in the South China Sea, known locally as the East Sea.

Indonesian Minister for National Development Planning Suharso Monoarfa and European Union (EU) Ambassador to Indonesia and Brunei Vincent Piket launched the publication EU-Indonesia Cooperation 2020: “Building Capacity for Green Growth” during an online event on September 17.

(CPV) - India’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth for fiscal year (FY) 2020 ending on 31 March 2021 is forecast to contract by 9.0% as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic weighs heavily on economic activity and consumer sentiment in the country, according to a new report by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) released on September 15th 2020.

Military officers from ASEAN member states exchanged views on issues regarding regional security and measures to enhance results-oriented cooperation between the operations departments of armies in the region, during the 10th ASEAN Military Operations Meeting (AMOM-10) held online on September 16.

The ASEAN high-level conference on Human Resource Development for the Changing World of Work was held virtually on September 16 by Vietnam as the ASEAN Chair 2020, with the participation of 150 delegates.

(CPV) - Donors have agreed to a replenishment in excess of $4 billion for the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Asian Development Fund (ADF) 13 and Technical Assistance Special Fund (TASF) 7, for the 4-year period from 2021 to 2024. The total size of the replenishment represents a 7% increase in comparison to the previous replenishment, which covered the 2017–2020 period. Total resources are allocate

Thailand's cross-border trade fell 8.5 percent year-on-year in January-July period, mostly due to the closure of border checkpoints amid COVID-19, according to the Thai Ministry of Commerce.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has maintained its position as China’s leading trade partner with two-way trade hitting 416.6 billion USD in the January-August period, according to the General Administration of Customs of China.