ASEAN and the world

Finland’s President Sauli Niinisto has been elected to his second six-year term.

India and Cambodia signed four agreements on January 27th, including a USD36.9 million credit package for a water resource development project in Cambodia and an MoU on prevention of human trafficking during an official visit of Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen to India.

ADB's Board of Directors has approved a USD21.3 million grant to help upgrade the Aiwo boat harbor in Nauru, which will make it the country’s first fully functioning international port.

At least 31 are dead and some 40 injured in a fire in Sejong General Hospital in Miryang, the Republic of Korea (RoK), on January 26th.

(CPV) - ADB Trade Finance Program (TFP) called for greater financial integration, including the development of trade finance, among Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) countries at a recent conference for trade finance professionals, central banks, and government ministries in Bangkok.

Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand and Brunei on January 25th agreed to cooperate and coordinate on exchange of information to counter radicalism and terrorism in the region.

US President Donald Trump will welcome his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron when he visits the White House in late April, a senior administration official said on January 23rd.

A double car bombing has left at least 22 people dead and 20 wounded in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi on January 23rd.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on January 24th said he would attend the Pyeongchang Olympics in the Republic of Korea (RoK) in February.

On January 23rd, the US Senate approved President Trump's nominee, Mr. Jerome Powell, 65, as the new Chair of the Federal Reserve (Fed).

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is travelling to the United Kingdom (UK), France, Poland and Switzerland from January 21st - 27th for talks on global security and economic issues.

The ASEAN-India Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) convened a working session in New Delhi, India, on January 23rd to review preparations for the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit slated for January 25th in the city.

(CPV) - Together with the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and representatives of development partners, ADB Vice-President Wencai Zhang attended the Bangladesh Development Forum (BDF) in Dhaka at the middle of January 2018. As a keynote speaker of the opening session, he reaffirmed ADB’s commitment to supporting Bangladesh in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and assisting the countr

Myanmar’s authorities have tightened security in ten key sensitive areas of Sittway, the capital of western Rakhine state, following violence in Mrauk U township last week.

(CPV) - Eighty two percent of the wealth generated last year went to the richest one percent of the global population, while the 3.7 billion people who make up the poorest half of the world saw no increase in their wealth, according to a new Oxfam report released on January 22nd 2018.

US Vice President Mike Pence on January 21st arrived in Israel for his three-day visit.

Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa has announced that elections will be held within “four to five months”, the first since the end of Robert Mugabe’s 37-year rule last year.

Myanmar and Russia signed a cooperative agreement in defence on January 20th, as part of Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu’s visit to Myanmar.

The Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs on January 17th announced the second technical meeting on cooperation in criminal matters between the authorities of Cuba and the US took place in Washington.

The Kazakh Interior Ministry on January 18th announced a bus caught fire in a remote part of Kazakhstan, killing 52 citizens of neighbouring Uzbekistan.

At least nine people in two countries have died as the deadly storm swept across Western Europe including Germany and the Netherlands.

The prime ministers of Australia and Japan committed to having the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) signed by March.

The number of foreign arrivals to Thailand hit a record high of 3.5 million in December 2017, jumping 16 percent year on year.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on January 16th said the relationship between the United States, China and Russia is "vitally important".

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has strongly condemned twin terrorist attacks in Iraq, said his spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

(CPV) - ADB Board of Directors has approved USD75 million in additional financing to continue support toward the development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), considered vital for economic growth and job creation in Sri Lanka.

Russian incumbent President Vladimir Putin is likely to win the 2018 presidential race with 81.1 per cent of votes, a public opinion poll showed on January 15th.

On January 16th, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis appointed incumbent Defence Minister Mihai Fifor as acting Prime Minister.

Egypt on January 14th reshuffled its government and appointed four new ministers.

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland on January 15th had bilateral meetings with the Republic of Korea (RoK)’s Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and her Japanese counterpart Taro Kono on the sidelines of the Vancouver Foreign Minister’s Meeting on Security and Stability on the Korean Peninsula.