[sc_embed_player fileurl="https://app.lundgreensinvestorinsights.com/public/audios/1760164269.mp3"] Conditions have grown more favourable for Southeast Asian bond issuers this 2025, buoyed by lower interest rates and calmer market sentiment.   Southeast Asian bonds are in high demand this year, benefiting from lower interest rates onshore and less favourable conditions concerning the rest of the global economy. Purchases of local currency bonds issued by ASEAN member-states have...

[sc_embed_player fileurl="https://app.lundgreensinvestorinsights.com/public/audios/1760163862.mp3"] Negotiations with the US brought down tariffs on Indonesian goods from 32 to 19 per cent, at the cost of removing duties on US imports. Can Indonesia redirect trade elsewhere to cut its losses? US President Donald Trump’s decision to impose higher tariffs across all its trade partners has severely affected trade for several countries including Indonesia, which...

[sc_embed_player fileurl="https://app.lundgreensinvestorinsights.com/public/audios/1760163283.mp3"] Have international travellers grown to “love the Philippines” as the country’s tourism tagline suggests? Not as much, it appears. The tourism sector is one of the pillars of the Philippine economy. In 2024, it accounted for 8.9 per cent of total GDP and helped sustain the country’s above-5 per cent pace of economic growth. Tourism-fuelled growth peaked just...

[sc_embed_player fileurl="https://app.lundgreensinvestorinsights.com/public/audios/1760162779.mp3"] Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is calling upon the Ministry of Defence and industry players to boost the country’s defence research and development ecosystem. Can this pull in significant investments? The ASEAN Defence Minister’s Meeting (ADMM) last 26 February saw member-states accepting six security resolutions, including artificial intelligence (AI), cyberspace defence, and maritime security. It was also during...

[sc_embed_player fileurl="https://app.lundgreensinvestorinsights.com/public/audios/1760162283.mp3"] Thailand’s plan to stimulate the economy through consumer spending came to a halt with higher US tariffs. How will the retail sector find its way forward? The Thai government implemented the first phase of its digital cash handout to boost consumer spending, amounting to THB 140 billion (USD 4.38 billion) in 2024. A second phase followed this January...

[sc_embed_player fileurl="https://app.lundgreensinvestorinsights.com/public/audios/1760161818.mp3"] The jury is still out on the fate of Chinese equities: is it in the middle of a slow bull market or will the surging valuations burst soon? China stocks have seen a stellar quarter, hitting multiple 10-year highs between July-September 2025. The rally has been so strong that it erased any losses dealt by sky-high tariffs initially...

[sc_embed_player fileurl="https://app.lundgreensinvestorinsights.com/public/audios/1760160102.mp3"] The Chinese government is aggressively battling price wars waged by producers of solar panels and electric cars, with intense competition already eating into producer profits. How cheap is too cheap? For Chinese regulators, some domestic manufacturers have gone beyond breaking point. Unlike the US grappling with above-target inflation, China is trying hard to push prices higher than where...

[sc_embed_player fileurl="https://app.lundgreensinvestorinsights.com/public/audios/1760159677.mp3"] For 35 years, it was state policy to limit the number of children that Chinese couples may have. Now, the tables have turned. For decades, the Chinese government had been policing family sizes, restricting couples to only one child – a stern strategy for population control as the country was set to hit 1 billion in the 1970s....