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Posts Tagged ‘ASEAN economies’
15th January 2012
It recently came to this blogger’s attention that the President of Taiwan has won his recent bid for re-election. In order to shed further light upon these developments it is necessary to quote directly from the website of Asia News Network:
Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou yesterday defeated rivals Tsai Ing-wen and James Soong sweeping more than 51 per cent of the presidential vote. The incumbent garnered more than 6.68 million votes to win another four year term after a re-election campaign that relied heavily on its China-friendly platform.
This blogger recommends that readers click upon the hyperlinks noted above in order to gain further insight into these developments.
It is often unwise to try to analyze the politics of Taiwan especially when comparing that jurisdiction to China. However, both Taiwan and China are very important players in an increasingly expanding and broad Asian economic landscape. Therefore, to ignore either jurisdiction may be unwise.
Concurrently, it would appear as though the Mainland Chinese economy is experiencing a slowdown of sorts. To quote directly from an article posted on the website of the Thai-ASEAN News Network:
Export growth slowed to 13.4% in December compared with a year earlier, down from 13.8% the previous month, while Chinese imports grew only 11.8% over December 2010, well below the 17% consensus prediction in a Reuters survey of economists…Fourth-quarter 2011 data for gross domestic product (GDP), to be published next week, are now expected to the worst for at least two years. Economic growth may have slowed to 8.7% from a year earlier, according a survey by Bloomberg News, which reports that UBS AG estimates 7.7% growth this quarter…
Readers are strongly encouraged to read this article in detail for further information.
Although it is difficult to say for certain whether any of these forecasts will actually result in an overall slowdown of the Chinese economy this blogger merely finds it interesting to peruse Chinese trends, both political and economic, because such trends can have an impact upon the Southeast Asian region. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is becoming an increasing potent economic conglomeration especially since it encompasses dynamic economies such as the Kingdom of Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, and Vietnam along with emerging economies such as Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia. The “ripple effect” of the different Asian economic strategies can often lead to unforeseen consequences across the pan-Asia spectrum. In any event, simple speculation is sometimes an interesting pastime for both outsiders as well as those well versed in the multifaceted nature of Asian economics.
For information regarding legal matters in Southeast Asia please see: Legal.
2nd October 2011
It recently came to this blogger’s attention that the President of the Philippines has voiced his belief in the advisability of further integration of the economies in the countries which comprise the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam). In order to provide further insight into these comments it is necessary to quote directly from the official website of Asia One at AsiaOne.com:
Asean must take advantage of opportunities at a time when the world’s traditional growth centres are slowing down, Philippine President Benigno S Aquino III yesterday said. At the close of Asia Inc Forum’s Asean 100 Leadership Forum here, Aquino said for Asean to grow further, it is necessary for the member states to work together to continue to maintain peace, stability and an environment that attracts investments. “I am aware that the diversity in Asean makes it difficult to completely agree with one another on some issues, but this has not stopped us from collaborating on the economic front, and integration has always helped us push our economies.”
This blogger encourages readers to click upon the hyperlinks noted above to read this interesting article in detail.
There seem to be few who question the soundness of the idea that economic integration in ASEAN would provide benefits to the citizens of all of the economies at issue. That stated, ASEAN is a unique regional bloc due to the fact that it has utilized a relatively slow economic integration process which has allowed the participating members to provide mutual benefits to one another while simultaneously allowing the member nations to respect the views of each other regarding national interest and foreign policy, especially in a global context.
Meanwhile, another ASEAN member; specifically the Kingdom of Thailand, has recently been the topic of an article about that nation’s relationship with the United States. In order to provide further context it is necessary to quote directly from an article by Walter Lohman posted to the official website of The Heritage Foundation at Heritage.org:
The United States and Thailand have enjoyed more than a century and a half of close relations, beginning with the signing of the Treaty of Amity and Commerce in 1833. They fought side by side on the Korean Peninsula and fought together again in Vietnam. However, as a result of U.S. withdrawal from Indochina, both nations’ 1970s rapprochement with China, and China’s subsequent rise to major power status, the alliance has struggled for lack of shared strategic purpose…As critical as this cooperation is, it is not enough to reconstitute a grand strategy on the scale of the Cold War. But rediscovering shared purpose in the U.S.–Thai alliance does not require a grand strategy. The regional dynamic is too complex, Thailand’s position ambivalent, and America’s own relationships in the region too varied and layered to foster a strategic meeting of the minds with Thailand…Both U.S. and Thai officials praise Cobra Gold as a pillar of the cooperation and interoperability of the U.S. and Thai militaries, an achievement that has proved useful for military missions, such as joint patrols of vital sea lanes, and noncombat missions, such as disaster relief following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and the 2008 Cyclone Nargis in Burma.[1] Two other major joint exercises are the annual CARAT (Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training) naval exercises[2] and Cope Tiger, an exercise involving both countries’ air forces…[3]
The administration of this web log asks readers to click upon the aforementioned hyperlinks in order to read this article in detail.
This blogger must take note of the rather precise understanding of the complex interplay of relationships between Asian countries in the context of global diplomacy. It is especially gratifying to see that type understanding in an analysis of US-Thai relations. A prime example of how some such relationships smoothly operate over time can be viewed in an analysis the relationship between the United States and Thailand. The US-Thai Treaty of Amity has proven to be a useful platform for Thai-American business while simultaneously having the ancillary benefit of providing new business opportunities in the economies of the surrounding nations. Hopefully the same trend will continue and similar situations will arise in the other ASEAN economies which foster and facilitate sustainable regional growth for the whole of ASEAN.
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