China energy’s crisis has been making global headlines these last few weeks with many Chinese regions, suffering energy deficits. Soaring demand in the aftermath of the global pandemic for energy, from the country’s giant industrial sector and higher-spending households, has collided with tight supplies of imports due to ongoing coronavirus restrictions amid government efforts to...Read More

Although the EU has not yet provided details of the sources of finance for its Global Gateway program, nonetheless, EU Commissioner Ursula von der Leyen has said stated, in general terms, that the EU will look to develop these sources to “connect institutions and investment, banks and the business community”.  In practical terms this is...Read More

The rollout of China’s Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) across the northern half of the Mediterranean Sea is typically portrayed in strikingly polar opposite terms depending on the political source. Western think-tanks and Washington/Brussels-centric media regularly depict the BRI as a plot by the Chinese Communist Party to ‘undermine European unity’, ‘divide the transatlantic alliance’,...Read More

In the last couple of decades, the growing importance of new technologies for business, media, health and public services has stimulated the development of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure in Bangladesh. Automation has allowed the ICT sector to move away from primarily being a hardware vendor industry and focus more on applications, engineering,...Read More

Since leaving the European Union, the government of the United Kingdom has pivoted toward Southeast Asia and its regional bloc, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), recognizing it as one of the key dynamic economic regions of the world. The U.K.’s new partnership with ASEAN fosters an environment supportive of increased trade flows, secure...Read More

The recent upsurge in Covid 19 deaths and cases in East Asian economies that had previously had remarkably good records of dealing with the pandemic (Tables 1a and 1b), has been driven by the rapid spread of the Delta variant, facilitated by cross border movements, relaxation of domestic restrictions and seasonal population movements. A situation...Read More

The NATO communique issued yesterday (see here) addresses China as a security threat to the West for the first time. However, within the text there is relatively little on China (vs Russia) other than reference to it being a “systemic rival”, mirroring earlier EU wording on its relations with China. Interestingly there’s no mention of the...Read More

In March, Bangladesh celebrated its golden jubilee of gaining independence from Pakistan in 1971. Despite suffering its fair share of political disorder over the last 50 years, Bangladesh has achieved steady economic growth and has made significant social achievements. This article will look back on the past 50 years, highlight Bangladesh’s failures, challenges and achievements...Read More

US President Joe Biden is a man on a mission.  He and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who’s hosting the Group of 7 (G7) top global economies, in the UK as this year’s presidency of the bloc, are looking to save “Western civilisation” from the rise of the East. This perceived threat is mainly arising out...Read More

The BRI area is opening up. Fast economic growth by global standards is improving living standards, and not just in China. Indeed, China’s performance, as compared with the other BRI countries, is more modest than might otherwise be expected. There are some risks that may yet essentially divide the area between the better and worse...Read More