Last year was a year of retrospection and affirmation for Singapore. Marking the country’s 50th year of independence, 2015 saw a yearlong series of state-sponsored events and projects to celebrate the nation’s achievements.
The effect was a carefully choreographed campaign — known as SG50 — that indulged in widespread nostalgia, popular heritage and the re-telling of the country’s journey from a developing to a developed nation.
Tough economic issues are getting harder to ignore for Sri Lanka’s new political leaders. Sri Lanka witnessed a change of government in early 2015 with the surprise defeat of the political strongman and war-winning president Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Meet the New Year – same as the old year. EM starts 2016 on a weak footing, with negative sentiment carrying over from 2015. The global backdrop remains poor, with the Fed likely to continue its tightening cycle with another hike in March. Commodity prices remain near the lows, while China data suggests that the slowdown (albeit modest) continues.
India felt snubbed following the World Trade Organization’s talks in Nairobi in December, and the resulting decision to table Doha, so the country’s leaders have become much more vocal about WTO affairs than usual. In fact, reports have now surfaced that India seeks to lead a contingent of WTO member states from the developing world intent on having a greater voice in the organization’s affairs.
The start of a new calendar year does not necessarily mean the rise of new market drivers. In fact, the key issues investors face at the start of 2016 are the same that dominated Q4 2015.
These issues center around pace of Fed tightening, the outlook for the world’s second largest economy and its markets, the impact from the drop in oil prices, and commodity prices more generally, Europe will deal with the centrifugal forces that threatening it, and whether Japanese economy can find better traction.
On the back of expanding global trade and buoyant exports, the Indian economy managed to grow at more than 9 percent annually between 2005–6 and 2007–8. However, following the global financial crisis, and subsequent sluggish world output and trade trends, economic growth in India has been lacklustre and remains well below potential.
South Korea has been celebrated for the twin successes of its rapid economic development and democratisation. However, the political and economic progress that has taken place has increasingly come under challenge in recent years. The worsening gap between the rich and the poor, and certain undemocratic policies have been cause for growing concern among the public. Two of the most controversial issues of 2015 reflect these concerns: new labour reforms and the adoption of government-mandated history textbooks. Both of these issues brought about widespread protests.
President Benigno Aquino III completes his six-year term much less popular than when he began it. His approval rating has dropped from a high of 79 percent at the beginning of his term to 54 percent as of September 2015. So what explains his falling popularity?
Put in a comparative, historical perspective, Indonesia’s economic growth performance has been relatively strong. Yet the recent slowdown in growth is a cause for concern.
It is estimated that the Indonesian economy will only grow 4.7 percent in 2015 and 5.1 percent next year, far below China and India — and even below Vietnam and the Philippines. In addition, the significant drop in total factor productivity growth following the Asian financial crisis has yet to recover, unlike in Thailand and Malaysia.
A recent study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has made some interesting findings about the pedigrees of doctors and nurses in Europe. As it turns out, a great number of these medical professionals came from India. In fact, India has been identified as the largest exporter of doctors and nurses to Europe.
