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Daily News on the Southeast Asian Region
18 May 2020  (pm) - 19 May 2020 (am)
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This issue of Daily News Alert includes a citation attributed to Dr Le Hong Hiep, Fellow , ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute. You can click on his name to go to the article directly.

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Cambodia
Cambodia

1 .
Colour revolution still a threat to nation: "[You] must defeat the colour revolution movement that attempts to topple the legal government and hold power, which is an act against the Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia and liberal multi-party democracy," he [Hun Sen] added. He said last year, Cambodia faced police pressure from "foreign powers" intending to destroy the government and attempting to provide an opportunity for "rebel groups" to stage a coup to seek a regime change.

2 .
DTAs with Malaysia, South Korea in works to streamline trade: The government has endorsed a draft of Double Tax Avoidance (DTA) with South Korea and Malaysia to pave the way for free trade agreements (FTAs), and increased trade and investment. [Cambodia Investment Management group CEO Anthony Galliano] said the Kingdom's initiative to negotiate FTAs with China, South Korea, and the Eurasian Economic Union is timely and strategic, given recent adverse developments impacting the economy, especially the EU's partial suspension of preferential trade preferences.

3 .
Meth Is More Cheap, Pure and Widely Available in Cambodia, UN Reports: Methamphetamine, long one of the nation's most abused drugs, has become more affordable, pure and available in Cambodia as organized crime groups move precursor chemicals across borders and flood the region with cheap synthetic drugs, according to a new U.N. report. In recent years, while the government has continued an anti-drug campaign aimed at cutting drug use and trafficking, the prices of crystal methamphetamine and meth tablets have dropped to their "lowest level on record," while the drugs' average purity and amounts seized by authorities have risen, the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said in a report on synthetic drug trends in East and Southeast Asia released on Friday.

4 .
Interparty and Intraparty Factionalism in Cambodian Politics: Although the CNRP remains united by its anti-CPP position, it is still fractured along political lines between two former opposition parties - the Sam Rainsy Party and the Human Rights Party. Historical institutionalism sheds some new light on the variation of political developments among political parties and within them, but does not supplant the fact that party leaders are rational to the extent that they select strategies in pursuit of their interests defined as power or security under specific institutional constraints or the lack thereof.
 
[22-page PDF document]
 
Sorpong Peou
Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs, 1 May 2020
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1868103420906023

Indonesia
Indonesia

5 .
Disconnected: Digital divide may jeopardize human rights: The slow pace at which Indonesia is addressing digital inequality could jeopardize basic rights for those excluded, experts have warned, especially at a time when the world relies heavily on information technology to stay connected.

6 .
Commentary: With policy flip-flops, 'new normal' looks gloomy for Indonesia: The Jokowi administration can only succeed in leading the country out of the epidemic once it begins to treat it as an emergency - not a chance for political opportunism. The government would be irresponsible, if not reckless, to exploit the outbreak to fulfill its political goals.

7 .
Govt rolls out USD43 billion aid to rescue economy: Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said the "national economic recovery" program would include a strengthened social safety net, tax incentives, capital injections into SOEs and interest rate subsidies for MSMEs, among other measures.

8 .
RI businesses need USD40b from govt: Kadin: Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) deputy chairwoman Shinta Kamdani said the current budget for the economic recovery program would be insufficient to support businesses, adding that many would run out of money by June.

9 .
RI, Australia seek refugee crisis solution: Amid pressure from humanitarian organizations, Indonesia and Australia have moved to follow-up talks under the Bali Process framework to prepare for the possibility of another refugee crisis in the Andaman Sea, where hundreds of asylum seekers died in 2015.

10 .
Local Dynamics and Global Engagements of the Islamic Modernist Movement in Contemporary Indonesia: The Case of Muhammadiyah (2000-2020): This article examines the engagement of Indonesian Islamic civil society organisations in the international arena by paying particular attention to the role of the Islamic modernist movement, Muhammadiyah.
 
[20-page PDF document]
 
Hilman Latief, Haedar Nashir
Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs, 1 May 2020
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1868103420910514

Malaysia
Malaysia

11 .
Pro-Anwar PH leaders were against Dewan Rakyat vote to choose Dr M's successor, audio reveals: Pakatan Harapan (PH) leaders gunning for Anwar Ibrahim to replace Dr Mahathir Mohamad were not in favour of going to Parliament to choose the next prime minister, an audio recording of a heated, two-hour meeting days before coalition's collapse in February has revealed.

12 .
COMMENT: Malaysia's 'theatre state' - more losers than winners: Some may see yesterday's sitting as a meaningless show and point symbolically to the masks on the parliamentarians as silencing their voices, the voices of the people. I contend there was in fact more substance in yesterday's ritual than it would seem.
 
Bridget Welsh
Malaysiakini, 19 May 2020
https://www.malaysiakini.com/columns/526336


13 .
COMMENT: Repositioning 'PH++' post-May 18 - three months or three years? There are two ways for Harapan to win GE15. First, push its support to near 50 percent and count on the FPTP system to deliver a manufactured majority, as in GE14. This is both unlikely with Umno/PAS putting up a straight fight and vulnerable to post-election defections.
 
Wong Chin Huat is an electoral system expert at Jeffrey Sachs Centre on Sustainable Development, Sunway University.
Malaysiakini, 19 May 2020
https://www.malaysiakini.com/columns/526316


14 .
Majority of top Bersatu leaders say 'clear decision' was made to leave Harapan: "We would like to stress that the Bersatu supreme council at its meeting on Feb 23 had decided for Bersatu to leave Harapan and form a new political alliance with other parties outside of Harapan. "This decision is clear and indisputable," said the 27 leaders aligned to party president and Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin in a joint statement today.

Malaysiakini, 19 May 2020
https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/526396


15 .
Perikatan memo just to show Muhyiddin has numbers, say Umno, PAS: THE memorandum of understanding (MoU) to form Perikatan Nasional (PN) is not binding on the political parties to register as a coalition, said Umno and PAS leaders. They told The Malaysian Insight the MoU was inked merely to show Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has the majority support to lead the government. They said if anything, the MoU, announced ahead of yesterday's parliamentary meeting, makes the chamber seating arrangement easier for the administration as it indicates who is with the administration and who opposes it.

Malaysian Insight, 19 May 2020
https://www.themalaysianinsight.com/s/246735


16 .
Malaysia should lead in 're-imagining Asean': THE coronavirus pandemic has shown the shaky foundations underpinning Asean, whose rules and mechanisms are not adequate to match the urgent needs of the day and, in the longer term, the ambition the regional bloc should aspire to. It is also clear that the rhetoric of the official declarations from regional leaders attempting to sketch out a common response did not match the resolve that was required.
 
Simone Galimberti is the co-founder of ENGAGE, a non-profit based in Kathmandu
New Straits Times, 19 May 2020
https://www.nst.com.my/opinion/columnists/2020/05/593645/malaysia-should-lead-re-imagining-asean


17 .
马来西亚的后疫情经济议程(三之一) [Malaysia's post-epidemic economic agenda, Part I] : 在接下来几个星期和几个月内,马来西亚乃至全球,将面对以下可能对经济造成长期甚至达几十年影响的剧变:(一)出口导向制造业及贸易国家模式面对威胁 .
 
刘镇东 (Liew Chin Tong)
Oriental Daily, 19 May 2020
https://www.orientaldaily.com.my/news/mingjia/2020/05/19/341421


18 .
慕尤丁的弱势与困境 [Muhyiddin's weakness and predicament] : 对内,不管是土团党及国民联盟,慕尤丁至今依然摆脱不了弱势局面。在本身的土团党内,其面对著前首相马哈迪派系的抗衡,更在来临的党选中,迎来慕克里兹的挑战,不管胜负都无法减缓内部的抵抗,反之一旦败选,其将面对更大的合法性危机。
 

19 .
Bersatu berhadapan risiko disembelih [Bersatu is facing the risk of being slaughtered]: Secara umumnya, Bersatu diberi tanggungjawab untuk bertanding di kerusi UMNO, selari dengan asas kewujudan dan penubuhan asalnya (raison d'etre) sebagai sebuah parti pribumi Melayu, juga sebagai alternatif, saingan dan mengambil tempat UMNO yang telah rosak dalam landskap baharu politik negara.
 

20 .
We'll protect people's and nation's interests, say Pakatan chiefs: Pakatan Harapan leaders have assured Malaysians that they will perform their "check and balance" role in the Opposition to protect the interest of the people and nation. In a joint statement issued, they said the King's royal address at the opening of Parliament yesterday touched on important matters such as defending the rights of the rakyat, the need for mature politics, being free of corruption, upholding religion and respecting the status of the Malay rulers. In this respect, they pledged that their lawmakers would carry out their duties to ensure these objectives were met.

21 .
Dr M slams brief Parliament sitting: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has hit out at the government for not allowing Parliament to convene for a longer period. Saying that disallowing MPs from speaking in the Dewan Rakyat was against the basic principles of democracy, the former prime minister added: "We cannot accept the excuse that the meeting was restricted to two hours due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Even in Sabah, the state assembly sitting was held for three days. "The air in KL must be filled with Covid-19 and that is why they are afraid. If we speak, then the virus may enter our mouths.

22 .
Kerajaan Persekutuan sah [Federal government is legitimate]: Pembentukan kerajaan Persekutuan baharu selari dengan peruntukan Perlembagaan Persekutuan dan sah pada sisi undang-undang negara. Menteri Pembangunan Usahawan dan Koperasi, Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, penubuhan kerajaan Perikatan Nasional berdasarkan lunas undang-undang itu dijelaskan dalam titah Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah hari ini.

23 .
Malaysia's political crisis could worsen coronavirus and economic challenges: That's a "triple-whammy crisis" for the Southeast Asian country at a time when businesses and households have been hit by months of lockdown to combat the pandemic, said Tricia Yeoh, a fellow at Malaysian think tank Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs. "At the moment we know that the coalition that governs the federal government is operating at a very, very thin, fragile ... majority," Yeoh told CNBC's "Street Signs Asia" on Monday. "As long as the current government doesn't table any motion (in parliament), it is secured - but the question of political stability will continue to haunt the current government and has, of course, tremendous economic impact."

24 .
COVID-19 highlights the plight of Malaysia's refugees: It is in Malaysia's interests to have a comprehensive policy in place to manage its refugees. Having a large number of unregistered foreigners in a country, with little information about their demographics, background, movement and jobs is a real security and social challenge. Some in the Rohingya community, for example, are prime recruits for extremist groups. Others have brought their communal feuds with them. Managing the impact of the pandemic on a vulnerable, dispersed group like refugees and asylum seekers also poses a challenge. Their living conditions are less than ideal due to hygiene issues and overcrowding. A majority of those that have yet to be screened from Malaysia's single biggest COVID-19 cluster, a religious gathering on 28 February, are Rohingya asylum seekers. They also make up a large majority of the 16,000 people in an area of Selayang, a northern municipality in Kuala Lumpur which has been put under an enhanced MCO.
 

25 .
PPBM still part of PH, Dr M insists: Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad today insisted that his party PPBM remains part of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition which fell from federal power in February. Citing a leaked audio clip of the last Supreme Council meeting before the change of government, he said it was clear that Muhyiddin had given him a week to decide on the party's direction as its chairman.

26 .
Ministry unveils entrepreneur and cooperatives recovery plan: THE Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Ministry is introducing an Entrepreneur and Cooperative Recovery Plan, expected to benefit more than 20,000 entrepreneurs, said its minister Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar. The plan, which outlines six main strategies, is aimed at supporting the stability of the entrepreneurship ecosystem, restoring entrepreneurs' business operations in the immediate term, and ensuring entrepreneurs remain competitive and resilient.

Malaysian Insight, 18 May 2020
https://www.themalaysianinsight.com/s/246747


27 .
Bersatu leaving PH all Muhyiddin's doing, says Dr M: Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had acted unilaterally in deciding that the party quit Pakatan Harapan (PH), Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today. He said Muhyiddin did not go through the party's normal process of discussion at the Supreme Council level. ... Dr Mahathir as such said Muhyiddin's decision was flawed and the latter had gone against Bersatu's constitution without referring to any of the party's authoritative bodies. The Langkawi Member of Parliament said it was as if half of Bersatu had been taken over by Muhyiddin and that the party had strayed from its main objective.

28 .
New chapter for oil and gas sector after Sarawak, Petronas agreement: The agreement comes after over half a decade of sometimes heated exchanges between both state and federal governments - first over the quantum of royalties Sarawak rightly should be getting, then over ownership of the said resources themselves, the constitutionality (or otherwise) of Petroliam Nasional Berhad or Petronas' role over those resources and, finally, the decision by Sarawak Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Abang Openg to impose a state sales tax (SST) on O&G products derived from the state.
 

29 .
马来人大团结是政治宿命 [Is Malay unity our political destiny] ?其实,在 509 大选之前,巫伊就渲染若行动党执政将削弱马来人特权的论述,只是当时没有人相信希盟和行动党能够赢得政权。在行动党成为政府的一分子之后,恐惧的情绪开始发酵和蔓延。恐惧的情绪造成希盟的支持率直线下滑,以致一些土团党领袖认为继续与行动党结盟,将在第 15 届大选输掉政权。
 
林瑞源 .
Sinchew
星洲网 , 18 May 2020
https://www.sinchew.com.my/content/content_2274058.html


30 .
马来西亚印度庙概述 [Overview of Hindu Temples in Malaysia] : 十五世纪时已经有印度商人在马六甲落脚。印裔大规模南来,是在 19 世纪英殖民时期( 1786-1957 ),当时他们多半集中在海峡殖民地的新加坡、马六甲、槟城。英国殖民政府在 1801 年拨出一块地,供印裔社群在槟城的皇后街( Queen Street )兴建摩诃玛莉亚蔓庙( Mahamariamman Temple );大约同时期,在槟城的柑仔园( Jalan Dato Keramat )则兴建了加尔各答卡莉庙( Calcutta Kali Temple )。
 

31 .
The Political Economy of Federal-State Relations: How the centre influences resource distribution to the periphery: This paper will explore more exclusively the political influences stemming from the federal government and how to mitigate for such effects for a more well-functioning, sustainable fiscal regime of the country's states.
 
[28-page PDF document]
 
Tricia Yeoh
Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS), 1 May 2020
http://www.ideas.org.my/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/P_63_Political_Economy_V4.pdf


32 .
Clientelist and Programmatic Factionalism Within Malaysian Political Parties: This article analyses factionalism within ruling and opposition parties in Malaysia, with a focus on party splits and/or the toppling or near-toppling of dominant factions at the national level. Political parties are either composed of clientelist or programmatic factions or represent hybrids that combine clientelist and programmatic factionalism.
 
[23-page PDF document]
 
Andreas Ufen
Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs, 1 May 2020
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1868103420916047

Myanmar
Myanmar

33 .
IDP camps in Rakhine State may face food shortages during monsoon: According to the statement of REC made on April 30, there are 164,000 IDPs in Rakhine State. They are sheltering in more than 150 IDP camps including schools and monasteries as well as their relatives' houses.

34 .
Rakhine Squatters Ordered to Vacate Former Rohingya Quarter in Myanmar's Sittwe Township: The government of western Myanmar's Rakhine state capital has issued an order requiring ethnic Rakhine Buddhist families to vacate more than 1,250 shelters erected on top of a former Rohingya Muslim area of the township that was razed eight years ago during a flare up of sectarian violence. Thein Hlaing, administrator of the Seyton Su Muslim quarter in Sittwe township, said the order, which went into effect late last week, requires the Rakhine squatters to leave the properties that belong to Rohingyas within three months or face eviction.

35 .
Myanmar Ethnic Armed Group Seizes $1.28 Million in Meth From Smugglers After Firefight: The UWSA, Myanmar's largest non-state military force, got into a firefight May 14 with about 40 smugglers, killing one trafficker and capturing one, the USWA said, adding that it had seized 3.5 million methamphetamine pills, among other drugs... The UWSA's anti-drug actions last week were small in comparison with the February-April operation by Myanmar's military, centered on Kutkhai township in northern Shan, which yielded the largest drug seizure in the history of East and Southeast Asia, the U.N. drug office said.
Philippines
Philippines

36 .
Rodrigo Duterte's war on COVID-19 is a war on the Filipino people: But the real impact can be seen "on the ground", and through the lens of the Filipinos affected by the pandemic. In Luzon, which comprises 73% of the national economy, NEDA estimates as many as 1.8 million workers have been displaced by the lockdown, while IBON Foundation estimates a total 14.5 million workers dislocated in varying degrees, including vendors and other workers in the informal sector.
 

37 .
Opinion: Duterte's risky bet on online casinos as an essential service - The Covid-19 outbreak has raised many questions about Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's handling of the crisis. His government's decision to designate online Chinese casinos as an essential service and allow them to reopen, while most other local businesses are under a two-month-long lockdown, has ignited an outcry in the Philippines....Opposition has sprung from priests to politicians. Church officials asked why online gaming was allowed to resume operations while Sunday masses remain banned. Ozamis Archbishop Martin Jumoad lamented on Radio Veritas: "Why allow the reopening of Pogos? From the Philippines being the only Christian nation in the Far East, to being the gambling capital in the Far East."
 
Richard Javad Heydarian is a Manila-based academic and columnist at the Philippine Daily Inquirer
Straits Times, 19 May 2020
https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/dutertes-risky-bet-on-online-casinos-as-an-essential-service


38 .
The Hurting Heroes: The COVID-19 Crisis and Overseas Filipino Workers: In the Philippines, the acronym OFW is synonymous to "bagong bayani" (modern-day heroes) particularly attributed to their contribution to the country's economy despite personal sacrifices. They were first lauded as such in the 1988 address of former President Corazon Aquino before the Filipino workers in Hong Kong. The term remains relevant today, but with the global health crisis, the impacts of which are out of the hands of these Filipino modern-day heroes, the Philippine government has to step up, in various necessary ways, to embrace its returning OFWs and to relieve some pressure for those who are able to stay abroad.
 
Mary Manlangit is an international relations professional, and an overseas Filipino worker (OFW), based in Singapore. She is a postgraduate alumna of S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University.
Diplomat, 18 May 2020
https://thediplomat.com/2020/05/the-hurting-heroes-the-covid-19-crisis-and-overseas-filipino-workers/


39 .
OPINION: Duterte government's shutdown of ABS-CBN threatens Philippine freedom: ...in taking on ABS-CBN, he is not attacking any old company -- the station is a fundamental part of how Filipinos get their information, all the more vital during a pandemic. Before the shutdown, ABS-CBN had between 31% and 44% of the total news and entertainment market. For many observers, what lies at the heart of the populist rhetoric and the attack on ABS-CBN is nothing but personal vendetta and petty politics, rather than the assertion of the public interest against allegedly ravenous oligarchs.
 
Richard Heydarian is an Asia-based academic, columnist and author
Nikkei Asian Review, 18 May 2020
https://asia.nikkei.com/Opinion/Duterte-government-s-shutdown-of-ABS-CBN-threatens-Philippine-freedom


40 .
Factional Dynamics in Philippine Party Politics, 1900-2019: This article seeks to address this puzzle by tracing the history of political factionalism in the Philippines. It maintains that factional resilience in Philippine party politics is an outcome of combined institutional and structural factors rooted in history. Adopting a historical institutional approach, it will delineate the path-dependent trajectory of intra-party factionalism at critical political junctures.
 
[26-page PDF document]
 
Julio Cabral Teehankee
Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs, 1 May 2020
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1868103420913404

Thailand
Thailand

41 .
Thailand expects worst economy in SEA: Data released yesterday by its economic planning agency showed a nearly 40 percent drop in tourist arrivals in the first three months of 2020, compared with the same period last year. The decrease has translated to the economy shrinking 1.8 percent year-on-year in January-March... The National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC) also forecast the economy to shrink by 5-6 percent in 2020, the sharpest drop since the Asian financial crisis in 1997-1998. The International Monetary Fund sets a grimmer outlook, predicting a 6.7 percent contraction for 2020, which could make Thailand the worst performer among its peers in Southeast Asia.

42 .
Thai economy shrinks for first time since 2014: Thailand's economy shrank for the first time in six years because of the coronavirus pandemic, which has shuttered borders and devastated the tourism-reliant country. Some 40 million tourists were expected to arrive in Thailand this year, drawn to its sandy beaches, infamous nightlife and street food culture. But the outbreak has sharply bruised the country's cash cow, with tourist vendors reporting as early as mid-January a drop in visitors after China - Thailand's largest source of tourists - went into lockdown.
Vietnam
Vietnam

43 .
Vietnam ranks low in clean energy adoption: In the bottom half of a global, clean energy transition ranking, Vietnam languishes far behind many of its neighbors. Vietnam placed 65th out of 115 economies in 2020 Energy Transition Index, released by World Economic Forum (WEF), down nine spots from last year to continue lagging behind many other Southeast Asian countries.
 

44 .
Keep Fishing, Vietnam Tells Citizens After China Ban in Disputed Sea: After China attempted to put limits on the disputed South China Sea, Vietnam responded with a message to its fishermen: just keep fishing, within the law. The Southeast Asian nation, a major world exporter of seafood, told provincial governments along the coast to "intensify" oversight of the fishers under their safeguard.

45 .
Import turnover climbs to over USD78 billion during four-month period: The opening four months of the year have seen the nation's total import turnover rise to over USD78 billion, a drop of 0.3%, with China maintaining its place as the country's largest import market, according to figures released by the General Department of Customs.

46 .
Vietnam Halted Its COVID-19 Outbreak. Now Comes the Economic Fallout: "Although trade and investment may be restored to some extent, tourism will be hardest-hit," Le Hong Hiep, a research fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore, said in an email. "I don't see any chance for Vietnam's tourism sector to recover to even half of its performance in 2019. The road to full recovery for the sector may take years."
SEA
ASEAN/Southeast Asia

47 .
Southeast Asia's shift to renewables a blow to Japan's plant builders: Philippine conglomerate Ayala plans to exit coal-fired power generation by the end of the decade, becoming the first major power company in Southeast Asia to quit the fossil fuel. The move by Ayala's energy unit reflects a broader shift in the region toward renewable energy, whose cost is now on par with that of fossil-fuel power generation. The trend will be a blow to Japanese plant exporters that relied on the region, including Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.
AP
Asia Pacific

48 .
Covid-19 chaos creates fertile ground for cyberattacks: Several implications can be drawn from patterns in such cyberattacks. State-sponsored APT groups have predominantly focused on targeting organisations and governments in their regional spheres of influence, despite some having an international portfolio of operations. Essential services should expect to continue to be a target of coronavirus-related cyberattacks.

49 .
Xi Jinping's China needs a foreign policy worthy of the 'Asian century': So, if the 21st century does turn out to be an Asian one - the way the prior one was American and the 19th century was so very British - who will turn out in history's eyes to be the leader of the Asian pack? The obvious candidate is China. But is it cut out for the role of leader of the Asian century?
 

50 .
Reforms Needed to Future-Proof Tourism Industry: It was announced at the APEC Tourism Working Group virtual meeting on Friday that the pandemic deeply affects international travel and would set back international tourist arrivals by 58 percent to 78 percent in 2020. "The tourism industry is the first sector to be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and will be among the last ones to recover as travelers become more conscious of the health risks and are discouraged by the stringent travel restrictions that are being implemented around the world," said Muhammad Daud, Senior Director of Tourism Policy and International Relations of Malaysia's Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture.

51 .
Asian graduates face shattered dreams as coronavirus pandemic ravages economies: Millions of young people across Asia are entering a battered labour market filled with hiring freezes and few new opportunities. But recruiters say this could be the perfect time to learn new skills, take advantage of government initiatives and get valuable experience

52 .
Xi Focus: China announces concrete measures to boost global fight against COVID-19 as Xi addresses WHA session: Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday announced concrete measures to boost global fight against COVID-19 including providing international aid and making the country's COVID-19 vaccine a global public good when available. Xi made the announcement as he addressed the opening of the 73rd session of the World Health Assembly (WHA) via video link.
 
Special
Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) / Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)

53 .
RCEP talks shouldn't leave India out: Over the past years, RCEP-15 has been working diligently to include India as a founding member but they have not been successful. Thailand, as the previous Asean chair, almost succeeded in persuading India to accept the RCEP framework after Mr Modi won a second term last May by a landslide vote. But strong internal opposition prompted him to waver, albeit repeated pledges to embrace RCEP.
 


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