The global population is expected to hit eight billion in 12 years. By 2050, that number will reach nine billion. ASEAN could hold the key to feeding this unprecedented number of people but only if its member countries can look beyond domestic political survival. While regional shot-callers are quick to sign multilateral agreements, the work that actually makes a difference involves engaging with 600 million or so people who live in rural areas.

Southeast Asia continues to be urbanising at a rapid pace. Alongside this phenomenal growth, a younger and increasingly wealthier urban consumer base with bigger spending power has been steadily growing. This growth is set to boost the online consumer sector even more as the rapid use of technology is poised to add another facet to how citizens in the region shop.

The richest one percent in Thailand controls 58 percent of the country’s wealth and the top 10 percent earned 35 times more than the bottom 10 percent. In Indonesia, the four richest men there have more wealth than the poorest 100 million people, and about 50 percent of the country’s wealth is in the hands of the top one percent. In Vietnam, 210 of the country’s super-rich earn more than enough in a year to lift 3.2 million people out of poverty.

The United States (US) is not stopping with China; it has threatened or engaged in trade wars with Canada, Mexico and the European Union (EU). Could ASEAN member states also be on US President Donald Trump’s list of targets?The US has a combined trade deficit of US$91.8 billion with ASEAN nations, with the largest three being Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand as of 2017.

For Southeast Asia’s biggest economies, 2018 wasn’t supposed to be like this.If a widening trade war wasn’t enough to contend with, a global wave of policy tightening, strong oil prices and domestic politics are also weighing on growth prospects for the region.

In Southeast Asia of late, the spotlight has been on the many ambitious infrastructure projects happening across the region. In the Philippines, President Duterte’s “Build!, Build!, Build!” infrastructure plan is underway with 75 different projects estimated to cost the country US$180 billion. In Indonesia, a high-speed rail system covering a distance of 140 kilometres connecting Jakarta to Bandung is also currently underway.

Across Asia, demographic trends are indicating a growing ageing population with the 65 and above age category projected to more than double, reaching close to 2.5 times the current figures by 2050. Similar patterns can be discerned in Southeast Asia. The ageing markets within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) can be divided into three separate categories – high-income, mid-income and low-income ageing markets.

With a few exceptions, most minor tropical fruits like rambutans, mangosteens, lychees, longans and durians remain a secret only known to the people who live in the areas where they are grown. Unlike their temperate counterparts - apples, pears, grapes, strawberries and kiwi - and major tropical fruits - mangoes, pineapples, papayas and avocados - minor tropical fruits are not widely traded and you will be hard pressed to find them in markets outside the areas where they are grown.

The manufacturing sector has been one of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (ASEAN) key economic growth drivers. Already, the region is a global manufacturing hub and is estimated to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.6 percent between 2016 to 2020.One key factor propelling demand in this sector is a 640 million strong regionwide consumer base with a growing middle-income segment.

In the past decade Asia has emerged as a booming market for nuclear energy. According to the World Nuclear Association, over half of the world’s nuclear plants under construction are in Asia. Most of them however are in China as they account for nearly 40 percent while the rest of Asia makes up 60 percent of nuclear plants under construction.