Asia Economy

The name Indonesia dates back to the 18th century, and it derives from the Latin and Greek Indus, and the Greek nèsos, meaning “island”. Early settlers arrived in the country around 2000 BCE, when the Austronesian peoples started to migrate to this region from Taiwan. They already showed well-honed maritime skills, as the...

With the largest population and largest land area of any nation in ASEAN, Indonesia is also responsible for around one-third of the 10-nation bloc’s GDP. It also has a key location within the ASEAN geography, straddling the east-west extent of the association’s boundaries, sharing land borders with Malaysia, Papua New Guinea and East Timor, and...

The year 2015 is set to mark a watershed in regional affairs, as Indonesia, along with its neighbours in ASEAN, form the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). This historic occasion will mean the final removal of many trade barriers between the ASEAN member states, and with the bloc also the signatory to a host of free trade agreements with other...

Since the dawn of democratic Mongolia back in 1989-90, much has changed internally, as the country has sought to negotiate the new, post-Cold-War epoch. This has involved not only embracing new ideas, but also a revised orientation towards neighbours and the wider international community in an era of rapid globalisation. This process has faced...

Just 22 years after embracing the market economy Mongolia has been going through another cycle of economic and political headwinds, although the country’s fundamental macroeconomic indicators appear to be more solid this time round.

Although inflation and commodity price fluctuations preoccupy investors and politicians in the short run, Mongolia’s biggest challenge, as long recognised by development experts and local decision makers, will be rising dependence on mining revenues. The debate on how to manage non-renewable mineral wealth is likely to come into sharp focus once the...