Thailand joined the ranks of the upper-middle-income countries in 2011, with sustained high growth and rapid poverty reduction. Gross domestic product (GDP) grew an average of 9.5% per year between 1987 and 1996 on the back of political stability, a business-friendly regulatory environment, a large domestic market, open access to foreign investment, and greater participation in regional value c…
A series of unforeseen events caused an abrupt halt to the Philippines’ strong growth momentum in early 2020. As a result, the Philippine economy contracted by 0.2 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2020, a sharp reversal from the 5.7 percent growth over the same period a year ago. The growth contraction – the first in over two decades – was driven by a series of unexpected even…
For some time, narratives and projects aimed at improving and diversifying economic activities in Timor-Leste have been the leitmotivs of a number of development programs. Framing such endeavours are several assumptions about Timor-Leste’s economy, namely, that it is unproductive, weak and unfair; that most of it is made up of subsistence agriculture benefitt…