Asia Competitiveness Institute, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore
2020 has proven to be a tumultuous year for the world. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), as a highly internationalized region, is naturally not spared from events. At the time of writing, vaccines for the virus have begun to be distributed worldwide in the hopes of containing the virus. Meanwhile, new and more […]
Read MoreSummary Payment behavior is heterogeneous across Southeast Asia, reflecting the region’s diverse and multifaceted population and levels of financial development. This week’s chart dives into payment behavior of individuals across select ASEAN member states. The data is sourced from the Global Findex Database (2017), which is the world’s most comprehensive data set on how adults save, borrow, […]
Read MoreSummary In the last decade, Indonesia’s tertiary sector has continued to grow, further surpassing the primary and secondary sector. This week’s chart illustrates Indonesia’s economic composition in terms of the percentage of the three sectors in the GDP value-added, as well as the annual growth rate of the Information and Communication industry. The chart shows that despite the Covid-19 pandemic, the tertiary sector continues to grow and has hit a new record in 2020, […]
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It has been over a year since the onset of COVID-19. Governments around the world have undergone an unprecedented challenge to contain the pandemic while minimizing the economic costs. Policy responses have been vastly different across countries, from strict quarantine measures in China, to minimal economic intervention in Sweden. Despite varying degrees of stringency, these […]
Read MoreSummary Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become one of the key forces shaping the digital economy today. Yet, countries are not equally ready to capture and maximise AI’s vast potential, leaving economic value on the table. The Oxford Government AI readiness Index measures the capacity of national governments to harness the full potential of AI in their delivery of public services and operations. Google Trends is utilised to approximate the general awareness and interest of AI-related topics amongst the […]
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As the world evolves into an increasingly interconnected community, multinational corporations (MNCs) and regional trade agreements (RTAs) play an integral role in shaping the changing economic landscape. In 2014, MNCs accounted for 55% of global exports and 49% of imports, with a large part consisting of intermediate goods trade within MNC networks. According to WTO’s Regional Trade […]
Read MoreSummary: The on-going second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in India is one of the worst that the world has seen. The country has been reeling under the devastation caused by crumbling healthcare system and lack of medical and oxygen supplies. That said, the dire situation is not uniform in all parts of the country with […]
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Highlights this year New York remains the most expensive cities for both ordinary residents and expatriates. Among cities in Asia, Hong Kong jumped two spots to top the ranking as the most expensive city for expatriates while Tel Aviv took the top spot for ordinary residents. Singapore’s ordinary resident has the highest purchasing power for cities in Asia. Out of the 15 cities analysed, New York has the highest cost […]
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India’s deadly second wave of coronavirus has left millions of its population infected and has placed extreme stress on the nation’s crumbling healthcare system. At its peak on 8th May 2021, India recorded more than 400,000 cases in a single day, accounting for over half the world’s daily cases and setting a global record that no country wants. According to […]
Read MoreSummary ASEAN currently has the fastest growing internet market with approximately 125,000 new users joining the internet every day. A more integrated approach to the region’s digital economy is estimated to add US$1 trillion to regional GDP by 2025. ASEAN countries have seen both internet users and cellular subscriptions increase in the past decade. This week’s chart […]
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ACI PERSPECTIVES 