Trade currency settlement   
   

In May, the finance ministers of Korea, China and Japan agreed to study the feasibility of using their own currencies to settle transactions among the three countries. The agreement, reached on the sidelines of the Asian Development Bank’s annual conference in Hanoi, drew attention as using local currencies in trade settlements would provide huge benefits to the three neighboring countries. (The Korea Herald)

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Indonesia’s and global development   
   

The global economic recovery remains fragile and uncertain, as risks posed by high energy and food prices, unemployment, and uncertainty over sovereign debt in Europe and the US continue to cloud the horizon. (East Asia Forum)

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Asia’s new global crisis      

The renewed global economic slowdown is putting pressure on Asian countries to review their export-based growth model and their vulnerabilities to the inflows and outflows of capital. (The Malaysia Star)

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Is China’s economic miracle a mirage?      

Doubts are beginning to be heard about how sustainable is China’s economic miracle, particularly the relentless emphasis on exports and investment spending by hundreds of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and local governments. Beijing, of course, has its supporters, including banker turned academic Stephen Roach, non-executive chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia as well as a faculty member of Yale University, who asserts that China is different, bigger, special, the superpower that will defeat all the odds. (The Japan Times)

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Reforming SOE’s      

Indonesia is at a fascinating crossroads. On the one hand, the country can choose a path toward long-term sustainable development, and on the other, high but potentially short-term growth rates. In the real world, to be in two places at the same time is impossible, but Indonesia aspires to do just that. (The Jakarta Globe)

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Asian leadership and the global economic crisis      

In East Asia, as elsewhere in the world, the risks that we continue to face in recovery from the global financial crisis, economically and politically, are a consequence not only of failure in national governance but also in the architecture of international governance, including regional architecture. (East Asia Forum)

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Yudhoyono needs to be bold to take Indonesia forward       

Indonesia’s economic resilience and recently announced 2012 state budget are the stuff that strapped Western government can only dream about, given today’s global uncertainty. The government is projecting economic expansion of 6.7 per cent and wants to spend Rp 168.1 trillion ($19.67 billion) – or 19 per cent more that this year – on building roads, railways and airports.        (The Jakarta Globe)

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The East Asia Summit and regional financial cooperation     

One of the priority area for regional cooperation at the East Asian Summit (EAS) has been finance. At the last EAS Leaders’ summit in Hanoi last year this area was given special attention along with education, energy, disaster management and avian flu prevention.       (East Asia Forum)

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Vietnam’s New Leadership and their immediate Inflation Challenge      

Vietnam’s 500-member National Assembly convened on July 21 to formally select the country’s new leadership team for the next five years. The National Assembly’s role has largely been ceremonial because the country’s leadership was already determined behind closed doors at the Communist Party Congress in January. However, political reforms have empowered the legislative branch of the government, and rumors swirled ahead of their voting that there could be some surprises. In the event, there were no such surprises. (CogitAsia)

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Bringing the IMF closer to Asia      

Christine Lagarde's maiden speech as the new chief of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was as safe as it was predictable. Speaking to an audience of 300 at the Council of Foreign Relations in New York on Wednesday (July 27), Lagarde addressed the global challenges of sovereign debt in the United States and Europe, slowing growth in emerging markets, and social instability in the Arab world. She emphasised the core principles of the IMF she believes will keep it relevant in an increasingly interconnected world. But in that speech there was disappointingly little mention of Asia. In fact, the word China came up only once, and Asia did not get a look in at all. (ANN/The Straits Times)

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Indonesia: Workshop of the world  
  

A recent wave of investment in manufacturing in Indonesia could herald the country’s rise as an international industrial player. A rapidly growing domestic market of more than 230 million people, as well as the potential for exports both regional and across the globe, are major draws for companies from around the world. (The Jakarta Post)

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Beijing and Moscow beyond the SCO summit   
So what really happened at the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), last week in Kazakhstan? Compared to expectations at fever pitch, it was a rather measured affair; more of a road map than a game-changer. Still, China, Russia and four Central Asian "stans" - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan - went way beyond a predictable security/economic cooperation menu.        (Al Jazeera)

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Talk about imbalances  
    
In a spring swing through Shanghai, Beijing and Southeast Asia I kept looking for the pillars to sustain the global economy, even as the U.S., Europe and Japan must struggle a good while longer. Much as the independent strength and potential in a country like Indonesia can be encouraging, my quest for now kept leading me back to China. (Forbes)

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Asia’s middle class on the rise  

The success of Asia’s economic growth has seen three quarters of a billion people emerge from poverty in the space of just a few decades. It has also already witnessed the emergence of a very sizeable middle class. (East Asia Forum)

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The New “Iron Silk Road”   
   

The 21st century will see the revival of the Silk Road that ages ago connected Asia to Europe. Or rather, the revival of many cross roads as a great deal of sub regional routes of importance has been included in the ambitious Trans-Asian Railway Network project (TAR). Within a few years an intercontinental highway will link Shanghai and Rotterdam in South Holland, and this will be a windfall for landlocked-Central Asian countries whose access to regional and world markets rests on an efficient road system. (Diplomatic Courier)

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Why the IMF needs an Asian leader   
   

It is doubtful that Washington politicians understand just how important the IMF leadership decision is. This decision is crucial because of a history that Americans have largely forgotten. During the Asian Crisis of 1997-8, the IMF made two decisions that continue to threaten the world’s ability to have a coherent financial crisis management policy based on a single institution. (East Asia Forum)

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Asia’s reticence costs it a shot at IMF power 
  

The world's power brokers lined up candidates to head the IMF while Asia held back, and its silence means it will probably have to wait five more years to break Europe's grip on the top spot. (Reuters)

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Indonesia needs reform to remain an attractive investment destination  
  

The feisty debate between the House of Representatives and the finance minister over purchasing a stake in miner Newmont Nusa Tenggara points to broader issues facing Indonesian investment laws. (The Jakarta Globe)

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Growth and democracy are dual tasks of ASEAN   
   

The political tsunami in Singapore in recent weeks serves as a sounding board for the future political landscape in Southeast Asia. The evolution from a tightly controlled society with the region's highest income per capita to a more open one — less government's surveillance and widen democratic space — is going to be an inevitable trend. Changes, albeit small and at a snail pace, as it may be in the island republic, sends a strong signal to similar kinds of governments in Asean that they either take up reform or soon be challenged by their own people. (The Brunei Times)

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Asian financial arrangement: Regionalism vs. multilateralism  

On May 4, 2011, the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO), an independent surveillance and regional monitoring office, was officially established during the 14th ASEAN+3 Finance Ministers’ Meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam, which was held during the 44th annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank.  AMRO is crucial to the operation of the Chiang Mai Initiatives Multilateralization (CMIM). This is a positive development after the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis. However, technical coordination with multilateral institutions, especially the IMF, is needed so that regionalism will not be in conflict with nor irrelevant to multilateralism. (The Jakarta Post)

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