Other than its Instagram-able tourist destinations, Southeast Asia is well known for its variety of food. From the mouth-watering delicacies on the streets of Thailand, Cambodia, and Malaysia – just to name a few – to the Michelin starred restaurants in Singapore that serve fine dining quality cuisine with a dash of authentic local flavours.However, there is pressure on our food system to produce 70 percent more food to feed a population of 10 billion people globally by 2050.

Oil plunged over 20 percent Monday after top exporter Saudi Arabia launched a price war in response to a failure by leading producers to strike a deal to support energy markets.The two main contracts both lost about a fifth of their value in morning Asian trade, with West Texas Intermediate sliding to about US$32 a barrel and Brent crude to about US$36 a barrel.Saudi Arabia launched an all-out oil war Sunday with the biggest cut in its prices in the last 20 years after a failing to clinch a d

After a fortnight of carnage on global markets, Europe is under pressure to join the United States (US) and Asia in drastic action on spending and interest rates to confront the coronavirus crisis.Investors are looking to a meeting of the European Central Bank (ECB) next week for reassurance that monetary policymakers have a grip on the epidemic's deepening impact on companies and the economy at large.But an emergency rate cut this week by the US Federal Reserve (Fed) did nothing to stem

The global Islamic finance market is growing moderately, because of the strong investments in the Halal sector, infrastructure, and Sukuk bonds. In 2018, Brunei hosted the Brunei Islamic Capital Market (BICAM) Conference, at the Rizqun International Hotel where more than a dozen international experts in Islamic finance met, deliberated and raised awareness on growing Islamic capital markets.

When speaking about the drop in his country’s tourism sector, an unnamed government official suggested that Lao PDR should put more effort into attracting tourists from Muslim countries in the region. He said that by providing prayer rooms in public places along with promoting halal (permissible or lawful in traditional Islamic law) restaurants, the country would be more welcoming to Muslim visitors.

Technological disruption will significantly affect ASEAN’s workforce, driving growth and creating new demand for workers. Based on a 2018 study, ‘Technology and the future of ASEAN jobs’ by technology company Cisco and Oxford Economics Data, 6.6 million jobs will become redundant by 2028 across the six largest ASEAN economies – Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

News reports from several different ASEAN member countries have shown an obvious decline in tourism.

It was recently reported that the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) had launched an initiative to connect Cambodia’s public service sector digitally with that of other countries.

Southeast Asia is proving to be one of the most successful and fastest growing digital markets in the world. While the likes of Grab and Lazada have established themselves in the region, many other start-ups are fast-developing unique and innovative forms of services to tap into the lucrative digital economy. Singapore is currently home to some of the most heavily funded start-ups in the region, including Grab and Sea.

Labour rights violations in ASEAN are among the negative effects of an increase in production due to the United States (US)-China trade war which has resulted in a shift of some production from China to this part of the world. While the region is embarking on the Fourth Industrial Revolution, numerous industries in ASEAN still rely on labour-intensive factories.