From China’s slowing growth to Malaysia and Singapore’s electronics-driven resilience – a new ICAEW report analyses how South-East Asia’s economies are shaping up for 2025. While China grapples with structural challenges, Malaysia and Singapore look set to benefit from global electronics demand, but face pressures from inflation, fiscal tightening and cautious consumer behaviour. That’s the conclusion of the ICAEW Economic Insight Report Q4 2024, which paints a mixed picture for the region. Prepared by Oxford Economics and supported by PBEC,…
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A useful reminder for business leaders of the possible directions Data Governance & efforts to bolster cyber security in APAC could be taken by national Govts and regional blocs in 2025. In particular what the conclusion of the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA) talks might look like. More engagement with multiple industry leaders linked to above areas like use of AI, Web3, crypto in healthcare, education, critical infrastructure and providing policy recommendations and feedback to Govt’s will continue to…
AUSTRALIAN MINISTER JETS TO EUROPE: Agriculture Minister Collins is in Europe this week to advance a range of agricultural trade issues. She will discuss UK beef market access conditions and EU policies in London and Brussels respectively and attend the Global Forum for Food & Agriculture in Berlin. CHINA TARGETS BEEF IMPORTS: China may implement new duties on imported beef. It follows the launch of a safeguard inquiry following complaints by local producers over rising import volumes. China’s largest imported…
Release Date: 31 Dec 2024. By Michael Walsh, Executive Director As 2024 draws to a close, I have spent time during the holidays researching the latest public posts, trend analyses, and utilizing AI tools to assess the global economy emerging markets and the performance of their ETF’s (Exchange Traded Funds). The data indicates that several regions are positioning themselves as future economic powerhouses. These insights examine the potential of India, Southeast Asia, Mexico, the Middle East, and Africa, highlighting potential…
Wednesday, December 11, 2024 Dear Friends of PBEC, As we look ahead to celebrating 58 years since the founding of PBEC in 1967, we wanted to reflect on our journey and the pivotal role each of you plays in our continued success. From our origins in California USA to our current home in Hong Kong since 2003, our commitment to fostering economic collaboration in the Asia Pacific remains steadfast. In 2024, PBEC hosted and co-organized 32 events and meetings, significantly…
PBEC successfully held its AGM 2024 at Isola Capital Investors lounge on the 28th November in Central, Hong Kong. Several directors and members joined the AGM via zoom live online from multiple countries including Malaysia, the Philippines, Hawaii, Vietnam, Japan, Thailand, Australia and the UK. New board of directors in Ben Usinger, Helen Campos, Natalie Chung, Dawn Westerhout, David Ching and Ha Do were elected. Whilst Chairman Andrew Weir and several existing BoD’s were successfully re-elected for a new term….
PBEC’s Natalie Chung and Daisy Shen Head of ESG KPMG China hosted a webinar on our recently published Scope 3 report in the blue zone at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan to an audience of business leaders, academics and fellow NGO’s. Again a lot of great feedback and agreement on our takeaways and future action recommendations by stakeholders. Forming partnerships and sharing best practices are crucial between businesses and NGO’s/advisory firms to ensure a company’s framework and pathway to net-zero is…
1) Tan Sri David Chiu SBS JP (Senior Advisor –Govt APAC) 2) Rear Ad Monty Khanna (India –Economics & Defence) 3) Alberto Furger (Indonesia Real Estate) 5) Carl Heath (Australia- Business relations) 6) Prof Evodio Kaltenecker (USA/Latam) 7) Satoko Yahata (Japan- Government) 8) Eric Chang (Chinese Taipei – High Tech, A.I.) 9) Steven Wong (Malaysia/China Finance) 10) Thomas Wong (Latin America/China trade) 11) David Armitage (Canada –Government) 12) Luis Miguel Aboitiz (Philippines Economic) 13) Stephen Jacobi (New Zealand Trade) 14)…
CHINA LIFTS AUSTRALIAN BEEF BAN: China has this week lifted its last two suspensions of Australian meat processing plants. It originally banned exports from 10 plants at the height of a $20 billion trade row in 2020. Trade Minister Farrell said Australia was close to all trade impediments with China being removed. THAILAND REACHES EUROPEAN TRADE AGREEMENT: Thailand and the European Free Trade Association (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland) have concluded negotiations for a free trade agreement. It includes goods,…
By PBEC Executive Director – December 2024 DECEMBER 2024: A PBEC update on APEC 2025 agenda hosted by South Korea: Korea launched its chairmanship of APEC 2025, the first time in two decades that the nation is hosting the global forum, on Monday 11th December 2024 with the APEC Informal Senior Officials’ Meeting (ISOM) Symposium held in Seoul against a backdrop of political uncertainty over the past week. The symposium, hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, set the stage…