A Field Everybody Wants to Play On - and be a Referee

The year that we leave behind has brought a further increase of political, economic and strategic weight for Asia-Pacific. This shift has been primarily caused by the resilience of Asian economies to the Global Financial Crisis - by their uninterrupted, strong growth.  Furthermore, this trend is likely to continue in 2011: as analysts predict, the growth in emerging economies, whose major engines are China, India and their Southeast Asian neighbors, is expected to be four times bigger than that of the developed world. Without any doubt, one of the highlights of 2010 was the historic moment at which China surpassed Japan as the second largest world economy.

RI’s leadership in ASEAN: A positive contribution   

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said at the London School of Economics and Political Science on March 31, 2009: “We in ASEAN can no longer afford to be allergic to democracy and human rights”. These new principles will be Indonesia’s objective during its chairmanship of ASEAN in 2011. (The Jakarta Post)

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Regional trade in South Asia   

South Asia also possesses a bright future due to the constant emergence of new entrepreneurial groups in the region. This new generation is more skillful, updated with new technology, with an aptitude for harnessing regional opportunities and better educated to address the challenges of increasing volatility in this globalized world. India being the biggest and fastest-growing economy in the region should help in tapping this potential in the region. (My Republica)

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Vietnam: Balancing growth and stability in a more market-oriented economy   

A new generation of leadership is expected to emerge from the 11^th national congress of the Vietnamese Communist Party in January 2011. Both the President and the Secretary-General of the Vietnamese Communist Party are expected to be stepping down, and a question mark hovers over the re-appointment of the current Prime Minister, Mr Nguyen Tan Dung.   (East Asia Forum)

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Watch out for Russian wild card in Asia-Pacific   

Just before we were tucking into Christmas turkey and plum pudding, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev met his Indian counterpart Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi to reaffirm what the Russian leader called a "privileged partnership" between the two countries. (The Australian)

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Korea and ASEAN pursue future strategic direction   

South Korea is gaining increasing respect as a middle power that can use its strengths to help Southeast Asia develop and also serve as a counterweight to China. (Bangkok Post)

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What is Beijing willing to do to secure oil and gas supplies?   

China's dependence on increasing amounts of oil imported from potentially unstable areas of the Middle East and Africa through vulnerable shipping channels has become an uncomfortable fact of life for the government in Beijing. (The Japan Times)

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New PM Faces Chinese Influence   

Laos' newly-appointed prime minister is more pro-Vietnam than his predecessor but may have to contend with giant neighbor China's rapidly rising influence on his country, analysts say. (Radio Free Asia)

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Managing India-China ties   

By the end of the first decade of the 21st century, a hyphenation of expectations has appeared on the international stage that India and China with their consistent economic growth can contribute in a great measure to global economic recovery. (Deccan Herald)

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Hesitation as Good Policy   

Businessmen want the Philippine government to act fast, negotiate with the European Union for a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) and warn that continued pussy-footing will cause the country to miss the opportunities that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations fellow-member-countries have begun to benefit from. (The Manila Times)

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