Opinions

Post-pandemic Recovery and Development
15 June 2022
By Dr Lurong Chen: Digitalisation—the use of digital technologies and digital-enabled solutions in socio-economic activities—has triggered global changes that are wider and less predictable than …

Vaccine Aid: US Catches up with China
08 June 2021
By Mr Kavi Chongkittavorn, Senior Communications Advisor: Strange as it may seem, vaccine diplomacy could cure US-China relations and improve their herd immunity against …

What Will India’s Post-COVID Recovery Look Like?
17 May 2021
By Dr Venkatachalam Anbumozhi, Senior Energy Economist: Since the beginning of 2020, India has reported more than 25 million COVID cases, bringing the country’s …

COVID-19 Won’t Rattle East Asian Supply Chains
29 April 2021
By Prof Fukunari Kimura, ERIA's Chief Economist: In the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a series of overreactions about the viability of …

Recovery from COVID Requires a Coordinated Approach to Digitalization, Supply Chain Reorganization, and Skills Development
14 January 2021
By Dr Rashesh Shrestha, Economist: The three main challenges ASEAN will face post-pandemic - digitalization, supply chains, and human capital – have been widely discussed. …

ASEAN's Strategies to Address New Normal
28 December 2020
By Dr Venkatachalam Anbumozhi, Senior Energy Economist: As policymakers prepare to intervene and industries consider changes to their business models, the COVID-19 pandemic and stimulus …

Resilient Supply Chains For Post-COVID Asia
31 October 2020
By Dr Venkatachalam Anbumozhi, Senior Energy Economist: Cyclones, earthquakes, economic crises, and epidemics are business risks companies have been facing for decades. The COVID-19 pandemic …

COVID-19 Tests Thai-Myanmar Ties
20 October 2020
By Mr Kavi Chongkittavorn, Senior Communications Advisor: The surging numbers of COVID-19 infections in Yangon and northern Myanmar over the past few weeks is putting …

How Companies can Rebuild their Supply Chain Resilience after COVID-19?
01 October 2020
By Dr Venkatachalam Anbumozhi and Prof Fukunari Kimura: The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the business world in an unprecedent scale and speed. It has caused …

Improving ASEAN COVID-19 Management: Implementation is Key
28 September 2020
By Dr Lili Yan Ing, ERIA's Senior Economist: COVID-19 has brought the worst economic impacts in the modern era, hitting the world from both …

What ASEAN’s Future Energy Landscape will Hold post-COVID-19?
26 September 2020
By Dr Han Phoumin, Senior Energy Economist For the past two decades, ASEAN has achieved remarkable progress in the energy sector in terms of the …

Why the COVID-19 Vaccine should be Mandatory
17 September 2020
By Dr Fauziah Zen, Senior Economist: As governments, research organizations, and pharmaceuticals race to find viable vaccines for the novel coronavirus, a recent survey published …

Sustaining Diplomacy Post-COVID
18 August 2020
By Mr Kavi Chongkittavorn, Senior Communications Advisor: The Bangkok-based diplomatic community breathed a sigh of relief following the announcement of the new cabinet on Aug …

ASEAN’s Frontline Heroes: Women and the Cost of Informal Ageing Care During (and After) a Pandemic
10 July 2020
By Ms Lydia Ruddy, ERIA's Director of Communications: In Indonesia, heart-breaking stories about healthcare workers who died as a result of Covid-19 started appearing in …

Navigating ASEAN’s post-COVID-19 Energy Transition
07 July 2020
By Dr Han Phoumin, Senior Energy Economist: Daily global carbon emissions dropped by 17 per cent in the first quarter of 2020 compared with 2019 …

Reimagining Global Value Chains after COVID-19
02 July 2020
By Prof Shujiro Urata, Senior Research Advisor to the President of ERIA: COVID-19 is exposing the vulnerability of global value chains (GVCs). GVCs contribute …

How COVID-19 Impacts Indonesia’s Trade
30 June 2020
By Dr Lili Yan Ing, ERIA's Senior Economist: Previous crises — whether trade driven, financial or economic — teach us that such predicaments hit …

Asean Unity in the Age of Coronavirus
30 June 2020
By Kavi Chongkittavorn, Senior Communications Advisor: The opening ceremony of the 36th Asean Summit in Hanoi last Friday, attended by a roomful of local and …

Breaking Down Barriers to Recovery
24 June 2020
By Dr Doan Thi Thanh Ha, Economist and Mr Salvador Buban, Policy Fellow: The COVID-19 pandemic has generated serious global shocks at an unprecedented …

7 Secrets of Thai COVID-19 Success
23 June 2020
By Kavi Chongkittavorn, Senior Communications Advisor: When the first coronavirus infection was detected on Jan 13, there were fears that Thailand would be the hardest …

Vietnam Leads ASEAN into Post-Virus Era
16 June 2020
By Kavi Chongkittavorn, Senior Communications Advisor: After more than five months of combating Covid-19, the Asean leaders are now ready for the virtual 36th summit …

Post-Virus Shift can Boost Renewables
13 June 2020
By Dr Han Phoumin, Senior Energy Economist: Residents in many of Asean's most polluted cities have been delighted to observe significant decreases in pollution …

Rebooting Connectivity after COVID-19
09 June 2020
By Mr Kavi Chongkittavorn, Senior Communications Advisor: Exactly 10 years ago in Hanoi, under Vietnam's chair, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations adopted the Masterplan …

Indonesia COVID-19’s Stimulus: Way to Improve Safety Nets and Pre-Employment Card
03 June 2020
By Dr Lili Yan Ing, ERIA's Senior Economist and Ms Yessi Vadila: COVID-19 is a wake-up call for the world. The pandemic has brought …

Modi’s repackaging of old industrial policy won’t salvage India
02 June 2020
By Anita Prakash, Director for Policy Relations: On 12 May 2020, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a second economic package to counter the financial …

From Containment to Recovery: Rescuing the ASEAN from Crisis
28 May 2020
By Dr Venkatachalam Anbumozhi, Senior Energy Economist: The upcoming 36th ASEAN Summit will take place against the backdrop of severely damaged business and investor confidence …

EU deal key to recovery of ASEAN airlines
16 May 2020
By Dr Alloysius Joko Purwanto, ERIA's Energy Economist and Panayotis Christidis: Following the COVID-19 outbreak, all 10 ASEAN countries have implemented strict air travel …

Post-Pandemic ASEAN must Bridge the Digital Gender Divide
13 May 2020
By Giulia Ajmone Marsan, ERIA's Strategy and Partnership Director and Ms Lydia Ruddy, ERIA's Director of Communications: Asean member states have a unique opportunity to …

Watershed Thai Media Moment?
28 April 2020
By Kavi Chongkittavorn, Senior Communications Advisor: A sea change in media-government relations stemming from the daily press briefings on the Covid-19 situation has been …

Saving Southeast Asia from Another Economic Crisis
27 April 2020
By Giulia Ajmone Marsan, ERIA's Strategy and Partnership Director together with Andrea Goldstein: The apparent success of China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan in …

Earth Day 2020: COVID-19's Blueprint for a Sustainable Future
25 April 2020
By Dr Venkatachalam Anbumozhi, Senior Energy Economist: Wednesday marked the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, which was strikingly different from the previous years. Countries across …

Covid-19 in Southeast Asia – Challenges Ahead
22 April 2020
By Giulia Ajmone Marsan, ERIA's Strategy and Partnership Director together with Andrea Goldstein: US President Donald Trump may not always be right, in fact he …

Kudos to Thai Covid-19 Fighters
21 April 2020
By Kavi Chongkittavorn, Senior Communications Advisor: In the 99 days since Covid-19 hit Thailand, the Prayut Chan-o-cha government has adjusted its handling of the pandemic. …

Indonesia’s Best Hope of a Covid-19 Cure is Its Communities
15 April 2020
By Dr Venkatachalam Anbumozhi, Senior Energy Economist: Indonesia’s Health Ministry announced 330 new Covid-19 cases as of Sunday (April 12), bringing the nationwide total to …

Will COVID-19 Devastate the Indian Economy?
14 April 2020
By Dr Venkatachalam Anbumozhi, Senior Energy Economist: The economic impact of COVID-19 on India will depend on a number of factors: the virus spread itself, …

Covid Catch-22: Saving Lives or Rights?
07 April 2020
By Kavi Chongkittavorn, Senior Communications Advisor: Faced with the Covid-19 pandemic, several countries have given special powers to their leaders, regardless of the political …

COVID-19 and the ‘Zoom’ to New Global Value Chains
05 April 2020
By Prof Fukunari Kimura, ERIA's Chief Economist, Christopher Findlay, and Shandre Thangavelu: COVID-19 has sent shock waves running up and down global value chains (GVCs). …

Imagining a Post-Coronavirus World
31 March 2020
By Kavi Chongkittavorn, Senior Communications Advisor: Prior to the World Health Organization categorising the Covid-19 outbreak as a global pandemic, nobody would have imagined that …

Covid-19: Asean Must Act More Boldly
24 March 2020
By Kavi Chongkittavorn, Senior Communications Advisor: The past 12 weeks have displayed Asean's strengths and exposed weaknesses when the grouping has had to respond to …

Elaborating Transportation Policy during the Covid-19 Pandemic in Indonesia
18 March 2020
By Dr Alloysius Joko Purwanto , Energy Economist: The number of COVID-19 cases in Indonesia has reached 172[1], an increase of 86 times since …