More and more Southeast Asian countries are upgrading their existing airports, as well as building new ones. Southeast Asian governments can manage airport capacity in one of two ways: build mega-hub airports or construct smaller, optimum-sized airports which can be scattered across the country. Indonesia, for one, is spreading its airport construction to smaller islands. It is slated to open Kertajati International Airport in West Java in mid-June of 2018.

The negative sentiments stemming from the European Union’s (EU) ban on palm oil is exerting pressure on the crude palm oil (CPO) price. In January 2018, members of the European parliament passed votes to amend a draft law on renewable energy. Although the bill is subject to further debate by the European Council, its call-for-action towards the reduction of palm oil derived biofuels and bioliquids, is adversely affecting the price of CPO.

Late last month, Indonesia saw the return of its infamous forest fires that occur each year producing toxic, choking smog in the form of haze as the rainy season trails off. The fires this time have broken out in the four provinces of South Sumatra, Riau, West Kalimantan and Central Kalimantan. Twenty-three of the 90 hotspots recorded across the country were in West Kalimantan, where thick smoke blanketed the provincial capital Pontianak and disrupted flights.

Internet commerce or e-commerce across Southeast Asia last year was worth US$50 billion according to a 2017 Google Temasek report. It is also predicted that Southeast Asia’s internet economy will grow to US$200 billion by 2025 driven mostly by the growth of online travel, e-commerce and online media.

When Indonesian president Joko Widodo was elected in 2014, he vowed to boost economic growth to 7% of gross domestic product (GDP). Subsequently, plans to spend around US$355 billion building a total of 265 projects by 2019 were announced, in a bid to bridge the US$1.5 trillion infrastructure gap Indonesia still had in comparison to other emerging economies, according to the World Bank in 2017.

In the not so distant future, cross border transfer of money can be done with a few taps on your smartphone. Cash stored in virtual wallets and accessible via a secure smartphone application would make physical currency obsolete, while paving the way for digital cryptocurrencies. Such advancements fall under the wider web of financial technology or fintech for short.The fintech sector in Southeast Asia is currently facing a boom.

The competition between ride-hailing apps in the region could slowly become a one horse-race as the tech world has been rocked with rumours of Uber exiting the region. The speculation began after Japan’s SoftBank made a US$1.25 billion investment in Uber that effectively made them the company’s largest shareholder.

Mobile ride-hailing applications are modernising and enhancing urban transportation systems in Southeast Asia. In Indonesia, 250 million people have embraced the use of apps such as Grab, Go-Jek and Uber, according to a 2018 ecommerceIQ (eIQ) - a market research brand dedicated to ecommerce - report.

In the modern world, electricity is deemed a necessity – powering up households and businesses which in turn drives economic growth. It also makes life more comfortable and innovation possible. But given the urban-rural divide which is prevalent almost everywhere in Southeast Asia, electricity is somewhat a luxury to some – especially for those living in far-off rural areas.

Southeast Asia has varying wind energy resources with Philippines leading the way in terms of having the biggest potential. According to International Energy Agency’s (IEA) 2017 Southeast Asia Energy Outlook report, it is stated that the Philippines has an estimated technical potential of “around 70GW”.