Author : East Asia Forum

On 28 December, the foreign ministers of Japan and South Korea announced that the issue of comfort woman was ‘resolved finally and irreversibly’. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed...

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...

Papua New Guinea (PNG) is a land of contrasts. Last year started with the prospect of PNG having the highest GDP growth rate in the world at over 21...

The ASEAN economic community (AEC), enacted on 31 December 2015, presents new opportunities for Laos, but it also underlines significant challenges. Laos has long been a country of promise...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Bangladesh’s year started with political turmoil when the opposition party — the Bangladesh Nationalist Party — protested, demanding free and fair elections. On 5 January 2014, Bangladesh had voted...