Combatting rising protectionism and reviving multilateralism was the top priority at the ASEAN, Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summits in October and November 2025.
The run-up to Japan’s prime ministerial elections concluded with the victory of Sanae Takaichi in a parliamentary vote against her Constitutional Democratic Party opponent Yoshihiko Noda.
While global headlines focus on tariffs and supply chain shocks, a quieter threat is undermining ASEAN’s economic ambitions — a widening trade finance gap that hits small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) the hardest.
In July 2025, the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) between Australia, India, Japan and the United States launched the Quad Critical Minerals Initiative to ensure the availability of critical minerals within the partnership and reduce …
