A couple of years ago, I coined the acronym BLANKs to describe a group of Asian economies which have considerable development potential, but are being constrained by highly esoteric political or geopolitical problems. The countries in question are Burma (officially called Myanmar), Laos, Afghanistan, and North Korea. At the time, I cautioned that despite their… [Read more]
Myanmar (Burma) is a country that deserves more attention. In case you missed it, the US is currently pursuing a diplomatic outreach to Myanmar’s ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) – the military junta headed by Senior General Than Shwe. US State Department officials have just returned from what was the highest-ranking American foray… [Read more]
Following the re-election of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Wednesday, arguably the biggest question is whether Indonesia can join the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) league and make the group ‘BRIIC’. Goldman Sachs identified Indonesia as one of the ‘Next 11’ big emerging markets in 2005, and Morgan Stanley recently suggested that Indonesia should be… [Read more]