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EXPLAINED: Asean | Vintage Vibes

'Our priorities are democracy & peace': Myanmar's new President Min Aung Hlaing vows ASEAN normalcy

Myanmar's newly sworn-in President Min Aung Hlaing said on Friday that his government has "many challenges to overcome" and would seek to normalise ties with the Southeast Asian bloc ASEAN, as he delivered his first inauguration address to parliament.

The Times of India

AMRO holds Asia's 2026 growth forecast steady at 4%, but said it would have been higher if not for the Iran war

"The Middle East conflict has shifted the balance of risks to the downside,” says Dong He, chief economist of the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office.

Fortune

Antipathy no more: diplomacy wins out as Australia and the EU sign a free trade agreement

After an often acrimonious relationship over more than half a century, Australia and the European Union have signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA). During a visit to Canberra by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the FTA has come to fruition after many years of negotiations and stalled talks.…

The Conversation

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The Iran war cripples Asia’s supplies of fertilizer and helium, threatening farms and chipmakers alike

Agriculture is the backbone of many ASEAN economies like Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Fortune

China is becoming a 'factory to the factories,' powering global manufacturing in places like Southeast Asia even as U.S. trade declines

China stepped up to diversify its trading partners, and mostly with emerging economies,” says McKinsey's Jeongmin Seong.

Fortune

Australia’s ‘strategic infantilisation’ by the US is undermining our security in Asia

Agonising about Australia’s place in the scheme of things has been the principal pastime of policymakers since our notional independence.

The Conversation

In Trump’s precarious world, NZ will need all the middle-sized friends it can get

When a local political commentator recently suggested (partly tongue-in-cheek) that New Zealand might respond to US President Donald Trump’s new world order by becoming the seventh state of Australia, it was dismissed by the prime minister and most political leaders.

The Conversation

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Myanmar junta expels diplomat after Timor-Leste opens war crimes investigation

Asean bloc member becomes first to investigate criminal complaint against Myanmar’s generals

The Independent UK

Myanmar expels East Timor's top diplomat over a criminal complaint alleging military abuses

Myanmar’s military government ordered East Timor’s senior diplomat to leave the country after judicial authorities from the fellow Southeast Asian country accepted a criminal complaint against Myanmar's armed forces

The Independent UK

Asia's young, tech-savvy population will power the region's growth: AIIB chief investment officer Kim-See Lim

The Beijing-based multilateral development bank is targeting sustainable infrastructure projects across Southeast Asia, particularly in energy and transit.

Fortune

With international law at a ‘breaking point’, a tiny country goes after Myanmar’s junta on its own

Just four months ago, Timor-Leste formally became a member of the Association of Southeast Asian States (ASEAN).

The Conversation

ASEAN to stick to Myanmar peace plan despite its failure to stop deadly civil war

Thailand’s top diplomat says a 5-year-old plan by Southeast Asian leaders to end Myanmar’s civil war has failed but could still help restore peace

The Independent UK

ASEAN should adhere to rule of law in face of 'unilateral actions,' Philippines' top diplomat says

Philippine Foreign Secretary Theresa Lazaro says Southeast Asian countries should steadfastly maintain restraint and adhere to international law as acts of aggression across Asia and “unilateral actions” elsewhere in the world threaten the rules-based global order

The Independent UK

ASEAN's top diplomats under pressure to end Myanmar war and manage South China Sea disputes

Southeast Asia’s top diplomats are holding their first major meeting in the central Philippine city of Cebu under growing pressure to beat a deadline to conclude talks on a nonaggression pact with China this year and push a peace plan that has so far failed to end Myanmar’s civil war

The Independent UK

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Fortune

Asia is the 'next big frontier' for sustainable aviation fuel as governments push green mandates

Malaysia may soon consider an SAF mandate, the latest policy in Southeast Asia's tentative embrace of green aviation.

The Conversation

5 years on from the junta’s coup, Myanmar’s flawed elections can’t unite a country at risk of breaking apart

Five years ago, on February 1 2021, Myanmar’s top generals decapitated the elected government. Democratic leaders were arrested, pushed underground or forced into exile.

The Independent UK

ASEAN won't endorse election in military-ruled Myanmar, Malaysia says

Malaysia-s foreign minister says The Association of Southeast Asian Nations will not endorse elections in military-ruled Myanmar

The Conversation

Carney’s China trip is another indication that Canada’s energy sector is its gateway to Asia

Canada has a lot to gain in Asia. From his attendance at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in October 2025 to his recent visit in Beijing, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s diplomatic trips to Asia show that Canada has both an interest and a need to enter the…

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Fortune

The Philippines, ASEAN's new chair, starts 2026 on a 'weaker footing' after trade tensions and a $2 billion corruption scandal

Third-quarter GDP growth in the Philippines fell to a four-year low of 4%, prompting Manila to slash growth targets for 2026 through 2028.

Fortune

Why Singapore is the only Southeast Asian country in Pax Silica, the U.S.’s new AI 'inner circle'

Singapore is “precisely the kind of ‘trusted node’ the U.S. is seeking to anchor AI-era supply chains,” says Ruben Durante, a professor at Singapore's NUS.

The Independent UK

China takes lead in Thailand-Cambodia peace push after deadly border fighting

Beijing says rival Southeast Asian neighbours ready to gradually ‘consolidate ceasefire’ following talks in China

The Independent UK

Thailand accuses US of rushing Cambodia ceasefire deal to suit Trump’s schedule

Thailand’s foreign minister blames ‘rushed’ ceasefire brokered by Trump for collapse of truce

Fortune

Southeast Asian economies prove resilient in the face of Trump’s tariffs as supply chains expand

Many Chinese exporters have turned to transshipping to reduce tariff payments—a process that led them to route goods through ASEAN countries before shipping them to America.

Fortune

Air strikes on casinos, colonial borders and a failed Trump ceasefire: What's happening in the Thai-Cambodia conflict

Last week’s border clashes have undercut Trump’s hopes to be a peacemaker, while also endangering a regional economy across the Thai-Cambodia border.

Fortune

Asia will get steady growth next year, defying global headwinds, says Mastercard’s chief APAC economist

Asia is contributing more to global growth than the Americas or Europe, says Mastercard's David Mann.

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