We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 October 2015
Regional Outlook offers a succinct analysis of political and economic trends in Southeast Asian countries and their prospects for the forthcoming two years. Scholarly, yet written in an accessible style, it is designed for the busy executive, professional, diplomat, journalist, and interested observer. This annual publication, which the Institute launched in 1992, has built up a loyal following of readers in Singapore and beyond.
Last year's Regional Outlook warned that terrorism in the region would not recede any time soon. The attacks on Bali on 1 October 2005 underlined the continuing deadliness of this threat. Southern Thailand is another site of the destabilizing effects of terrorism. The terrorist attacks there not only eroded Thailand's sense of domestic security but also affected bilateral relations between Thailand and Malaysia. Apart from terrorism, the member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have had to contend with various natural disasters. The Boxing Day tsunami of 2004 is etched deeply into regional memory. The looming possibility of the avian influenza turning into a pandemic is an issue that calls for the closest regional and global cooperation. On the bright side, an East Asian Summit spearheaded by ASEAN and scheduled for December 2005 is the first step towards an integrated Asian community. However, any realistic appraisal needs to acknowledge hurdles ahead. Just five years into the new millennium, Asia's many challenges are clear.
On the economic front, a moderate economic slowdown is expected in Southeast Asia over the next two years. The main risks that could affect the region's economic outlook in 2006–2007 are high oil prices, China's overheating economy, the possibility of an avian flu pandemic, and rising global imbalances because of the financing of the US current account deficits by excess savings in East Asia. Sustained high oil prices, in particular, are a major risk to regional economic growth. If oil prices continue to rise, inflationary pressure will persist, eroding business and consumer confidence in the region.
To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.
