Terrorism is as old as politics. States must therefore stay ahead of the threat while engaged in combatting COVID-19.

The following is a press statement issued by the Covid Research Centre in Kuala Lumpur on 11 December, 2020. As the issue of a COVID-19 vaccine has become very controversial and emotional, we may need to pre-qualify ourselves on who we are, our knowledge, track record, beliefs and principles on this issue.Our group was the first in the world to publish an “Open Letter To The Suffering People Of Wuhan” on 11 February, 2020 even before the pandemic engulfed the world.

The world is not yet sufficiently alarmed by how much the COVID-19 pandemic has ravaged the global economy. We track the daily numbers of infections and casualties. But we are oblivious to the job losses and lives upended, especially in the developing world, where the pandemic has barely elicited a public-health response.The pandemic’s impact on major economies has so far been four times worse than that of the 2008 global financial crisis.

China’s economy seems largely to have bounced back from the COVID-19 shock. It registered 4.9 percent annual growth in the third quarter of 2020, and the rate may well exceed five percent growth in the fourth quarter. The result would be at least two percent annual full-year growth – not bad at a time when much of the world is facing a pandemic-induced recession. But that doesn’t mean smooth sailing ahead.

With the COVID-19 outbreak, ASEAN member states (AMS) are now in the middle of dealing with a combination of shocks – the public health crisis, a lagging economy, a stressed financial sector, and climate change risk. As the pandemic shows no signs of ending, the economy of ASEAN is projected to contract by 3.8 percent in 2020, the first economic contraction for the bloc in 22 years.

Australia’s China problem – official contacts frozen and many of our exports under siege – is now gaining attention far beyond our shores.

Last month, 15 Asia-Pacific countries signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). The occasion marked what might be the most significant economic achievement since the COVID-19 crisis began. And yet the RCEP – or, indeed, Asia – cannot save the ailing multilateral trading system alone.

One of the most important things in society that has been shaken by the global pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus, SARS CoV-2, is the education sector. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the lives of all learners in the Philippines since March.

The signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) on 15 November, 2020 marks a milestone for East Asian regionalism. It shows ASEAN’s determination to unify existing ASEAN+1 trade agreements and to showcase the bloc’s central role in regional cooperation. As former Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa noted recently, the RCEP was “a response by ASEAN leaders to a series of initiatives that did not provide for ASEAN centrality”.

Financial technology or fintech is not only the new kid on the block, but a pivotal game-changer for the digitalisation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).Quoting from professional services network firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), fintech is simply the evolving dynamic intersection and strategic overlap between financial services and technology. Presently, SMEs are having to grapple with cash flow problems – with growing unsettled and accumulating liabilities in their bal