Southeast Asia’s booming digital economy and why it matters

For decades, Southeast Asia has been among the fastest growing economies in the world and a major magnet of foreign investment. The region is on course to become the world’s largest single market by 2030, propelled by a number of factors such as dynamic economic activity, favorable demographics, openness to international trade, relatively stable and pro-business government policies, bustling entrepreneurial activity, and a recently rising trend that should not go overlooked – a surging digital economy. It is this latter development that Access Asia Group is keenly following due to its immense impact on overall economic, social and even political […]

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Thailand on the Rebound

The Omicron variants – and whatever else Covid-19 may deign to throw at us in the year ahead – notwithstanding, Thailand now appears ready to turn things around, both in terms of tourism and in terms of getting the economy back on track in general.

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Vietnam Update Oct 4: Ho Chi Minh City’s first weekend under the new normal

After months of some form of a lockdown, Vietnam’s largest city and epicenter of the country’s fourth Covid wave, Ho Chi Minh City, enjoyed its first weekend under relaxed restrictions. A sense of normalcy is returning, yet Vietnam’s Covid-19 battle is far from over. The following is Access Asia’s latest update on the situation in Vietnam in collaboration with Vietnam Weekly, a subscription-based publication covering current affairs in Vietnam. On Friday afternoon, Ho Chi Minh City’s overarching new pandemic rules got an official name: Directive 18. This codified the sweeping loosening of restrictions and the impact this weekend was as […]

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Vietnam Update: Lockdown lifted in Ho Chi Minh City

After months of some form of a lockdown, Vietnam’s largest city and epicenter of the country’s fourth Covid wave, Ho Chi Minh City, has lifted its “shelter-in-place” order and is allowing many businesses to resume operations. Finally, it seems that a sense of normalcy is returning, yet the city’s battle against Covid-19 is far from over. The following is Access Asia’s latest update on the situation in Vietnam in collaboration with Vietnam Weekly, a subscription-based publication covering current affairs in Vietnam. Starting today (Oct 1), businesses in Ho Chi Minh City except for bars, spas, karaoke and massage parlors, beauty […]

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