COVID-19 has exposed the myriad weaknesses of cross-border value chains. Once the backbone of globalization, now they are associated with vulnerability to disruption. Thanks to the pandemic, value chains are being reconfigured with a focus on resilience. At the same time, China’s changing role in the global economy is forcing companies to reconsider it as a manufacturing hub. The world’s factory has reinvented itself as the world’s investor.

Power outages in China, chaos in Britain's petrol stations, factory closures in Germany – supply chain problems around the world are threatening to gnarl up a global recovery as countries try to re-emerge from pandemic-induced recessions.This week saw a number of examples of the supply chain issues currently dogging economic activity across the globe – China ran out of coal for its power stations; the United Kingdom (UK) had insufficient lorry drivers to transport petrol to the fuel pump

Vietnam locked down eight million people in Hanoi on Saturday, the latest attempt to curb a serious coronavirus outbreak that has already forced a third of the country to stay home.Authorities reported more than 7,000 new infections across the nation on Friday – the third record number of daily infections in a week.The centre of the normally bustling capital was empty and shops were shuttered as the lockdown came into force, although people could still be seen on the streets in the outskirts

With the advancement of smart technologies and digitalisation, it seems like the world is rapidly moving into the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution or Industry 4.0. The industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) market, which some have called Industry 4.0, describes the widespread integration of information and communication technology (ICT), particularly cyber-physical systems (CPS), in industrial manufacturing.No industry is immune to the disruptions brought about by digital technologies.

The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement released earlier this week that it has notified ASEAN countries that it had completed the legal procedures to amend the First Protocol of the ASEAN-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership (AJCEP). The original partnership took effect in 2008 and was Japan’s first multilateral trade agreement. The first protocol was signed by Japan in February 2019 and in March and April of the same year by the ASEAN member states.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe recently declared a state of emergency for the coronavirus pandemic and unveiled a massive stimulus package to help the economy overcome the crisis.The rescue package, which at JPY108 trillion (US$992 billion) or about 2.7 times Malaysia’s gross domestic product (GDP) is the biggest in Japan’s history.

While growth in Southeast Asia remains robust, data from the first half of 2019 indicates it has been slower than forecasted. The most recent Asian Development Bank (ADB) data suggests that Southeast Asia has grown less than anticipated, resulting in slight downward revisions to growth forecasts which now stand at 4.8 percent (2019) and 4.9 percent (2020), down from 4.9 percent and 5.0 percent, respectively.

Technology has always been one of the core catalytic factors that stimulate improvement or revolution in the way we live and work.

Offering investment opportunities in everything from zippers to bullet trains, Vietnam has long been recognised as a hub for foreign direct investment (FDI) – and a recent report has just confirmed that.The United States (US) News and World Report last month ranked Vietnam eighth in a list of 29 best economies to invest in, and the next closest ASEAN countries on the list were Malaysia (13th), Singapore (14th) and Indonesia (18th).

With technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), big data and the Internet of Things (IoT) rapidly permeating society, ASEAN’s youth will need to reinvent themselves to stay relevant in the job market.Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies are stamping their mark in everything from agriculture to the legal profession – streamlining processes, increasing productivity and reducing costs.The “manufacturing for export” strategy has served as the main economic pillar of most ASE