Indonesia is home to 521 natural lakes and about 100 reservoirs, covering an area of approximately 21,000 square kilometres (km²). The total volume of water held across the country is approximately 500 cubic kilometres (km³). The largest lake, by both area and volume, is Lake Toba in Sumatra. It holds about 240 km³ of freshwater, and is the largest lake body in Southeast Asia.Lake Toba is an immense volcanic lake covering an area of 1,707 km², making it even bigger than Singapore.

Southeast Asia’s been home to almost half of the biggest growth drivers in the past half-century. To keep investors interested, it’ll have to make the right moves across technology, education and infrastructure, according to Diaan-Yi Lin, a senior partner at McKinsey & Co.Among 71 developing economies of the past half-century, 18 are responsible for the lion’s share of growth, with eight of those within Southeast Asia, a September McKinsey report showed.

China has been the world's largest importer of recyclable materials since the 1980s. In 2017, China's Ministry of Ecology and Environment announced an import ban of 24 types of solid waste (later updated to 32 types) including unsorted wastepaper, textiles and plastics. The secondary raw material harvested from the imported waste is expected to be replaced by domestic resources.

A police raid on the Wai Mei Dat Thai Recycling factory, 100km east of Bangkok last month revealed a shocking find. The 40-acre complex was laden with huge piles of electronic waste – keyboards, motherboards, electrical wires, computer screens and smartphone batteries, just to name a few. The high-level operation found that undocumented immigrant workers from Lao PDR and Myanmar were used to recycle or discard the e-waste at the site.

Southeast Asia is one of the most rapidly developing regions in the world with projected economic growth rates averaging 5.1 percent for member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

It is no secret that China is fast expanding its influence within the Southeast Asian region as it attempts to win over nations by offering lucrative pipelines of investment and credit. Thus far, the principle benefactor of Beijing’s actions is Cambodia, which hasn’t been shy to admit that China is the country’s “most trustworthy friend.” However, often overlooked in this game of regional geopolitics is the landlocked country of Lao PDR.

Job creation has always been an important priority for governments in the region, and with an estimated 68 million new workers entering ASEAN’s labour force by 2025, it will remain a priority in the coming years. One segment which is likely to see the generation of new potential job opportunities is renewable energy.According to estimates by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), as of 2016, renewable energy accounted for 611,000 jobs in Southeast Asia.

Longstanding smartphone market leader in Southeast Asia, Samsung Electronics has been dethroned. According to latest data by the International Data Cooperation (IDC), Chinese smartphone manufacturers, Huawei, OPPO and Vivo have collectively edged out the Korean smartphone giant in 2017.Last year, Samsung shipped a total of 29.3 million smartphones, garnering a market share of around 29.1 percent.

Today, technology is widely associated with the digital realm - computers, the internet, mobile device, and smartphones, - just to name a few, which has seen the mushrooming of a myriad of tech startups. However, technological innovation may not translate to definite technological progress. For example, Uber-fication has seen similar applications based on the ride-sharing giant’s model in various other industries like hospitality, healthcare and personal services.

Imagine a skyline of futuristic high-rise buildings with 21st century robots assisting us in the workplace. On the roads, sleek two door sports cars cruise past without much audible noise. At the very most you hear just a soft whir of the electric motors that power the 700-brake horsepower beasts beneath their hoods. Electric cars have always been associated with the future but the future has arrived.