Chart of the Week │ Dec 10, 2025
RCEP’s Uneven Investment Landscape: The Dominance of ASEAN and Northeast Asia
Greenfield foreign direct investment (FDI) within the RCEP region has remained structurally uneven over the past decade, with ASEAN consistently functioning as the bloc’s central investment hub.
Featured Research
Safeguarding ASEAN’s Solar PV Future: Trade, Policy and Business Perspectives
Riding on the global wave of renewable energy expansion, ASEAN has emerged as a major exporter of solar PV products. Yet, this export-led growth also exposes the vulnerabilities of ASEAN’s solar PV industry—especially its deep integration into the global supply…
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Protectionism’s Toll on ASEAN: Lessons from a USD 10 Billion Export Loss
ASEAN’s exports have become more vulnerable as global protectionism rises. Using monthly trade data at the six-digit (HS-6) level, the study quantifies how these policy shifts affect regional trade. It finds that each new protectionist measure reduced ASEAN exports by…
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Tracking Investment and Policy Shifts in a World of Protectionism
Summary: On 26 September 2025, ACI hosted a webinar themed “Tracking Investment and Policy Shifts in a World of Protectionism”. This is the first webinar under the ACI data and Policy Analytics Seminar Series this year. The session explored how…
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Can Asia-Pacific Deliver on the RCEP Promise?
Summary: The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) was launched as a milestone in Asian trade integration. Bringing together 15 economies, it promised stronger linkages, more resilient supply chains, and a rules-based anchor for the region. Yet with tariff shocks from…
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Looking ahead of Hainan Free Trade Port’s Development: Challenges and Opportunities
ACI’s latest research finds that the development of the Hainan Free Trade Port (FTP) is hindered by its weak economic fundamentals, competition from established Pilot Free Trade Zones (PFTZs) and limited institutional capacity. Building clear strategic positioning, executing policies robustly,…
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Book Launch | The Solar Power Industry in ASEAN: A Competitiveness Analysis
Summary: The Solar Power Industry in ASEAN – A Competitiveness Analysis offers a comprehensive evaluation of the region’s developmental trajectory through rigorous quantitative assessments and an examination of key policies proposed and implemented by ASEAN and individual member states. By…
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Rents, Wages, and Grocery Bills: How Much Has the Cost of Living Changed in Major Asian Cities After the Pandemic?
The post-pandemic era has been marked by inflationary pressures, raising the cost of living in all major cities globally. Pandemic-induced supply-chain disruptions like production delays and transportation bottlenecks, coupled with post-pandemic economic recovery, caused global inflation rates to surge. Inflation…
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Book Launch | Shipping Networks of Indonesia: A Sub-national Competitiveness Analysis
Summary: In 2024, the global economy has shown signs of recovery following the significant challenges of 2023, which included energy and food disruptions, high inflation, and tight labour markets. In line with this global recovery, Indonesia achieved economic growth at…
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Book Launch | China’s FDI Trends, Policy Response and ASEAN Outreach
Summary: In a year marked by both resilience and weakness, China’s economy expanded by 5% in 2024, hitting its official growth target but registering a slowdown from the previous year. This growth was led primarily by a sharp rebound in…
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