India will be increasingly key to Asian drug cartels

Significance The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has warned that India’s north-east is becoming a major hub for the regional drug trade. Asian drug cartels have long relied on India as a source of drug precursors, the chemicals used in narcotics manufacture. Impacts Pandemic-related hardship will prompt a rise in consumption of relatively cheap drugs such as methamphetamine in the region. Drug cartels based in India and elsewhere in South and South-east Asia will rely increasingly on online platforms to conduct their business. The different states in India’s north-east will struggle to coordinate their efforts to crack down on drug trafficking.

Significance The ‘Golden Triangle’ -- centred on the tripoint of Laos, Thailand and Myanmar -- has long been a hub for production of illicit drugs. The area is rife with drug cartels. Impacts Regional authorities will continue to make large narcotics seizures but struggle to curb the trade in precursors used in drug manufacture. Laos and Cambodia will find it especially difficult to clamp down on drug trafficking, given their limited resources. Estimating the scale of drug production in Myanmar will get harder as governance in the country weakens.


Subject Illegal drugs in South-east Asia. Significance Seizures of illegal methamphetamine drugs in the Greater Mekong sub-region are at record highs, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said on July 6, calling for a coordinated response to South-east Asia’s 40-billion-dollar illegal narcotics trade. Impacts Corruption and inadequate legal frameworks will enfeeble enforcement efforts. Cross-border deals will be needed to establish appropriate regional medical and security capacity to counter illegal narcotics. Tackling Myanmar’s illegal drugs would be aided by a peace deal with ethnic minority militias, but prospects are poor. Controversial anti-drug efforts that bring accusations of rights abuses could hinder international free trade talks.


Significance She addressed two key issues during her trip: tensions in post-coup Myanmar and China’s growing regional footprint. Shortly after she left the region, the United States announced that it would donate unused COVID-19 vaccines abroad, including to South-east Asia. Impacts Washington will tighten its sanctions on the Myanmar military while supporting ASEAN’s five-point plan to ease the country’s crisis. The National Unity Government, a parallel administration to Myanmar’s junta set up by its opponents, will try to attract greater US backing. Manila and Washington may extend negotiations over renewing their Visiting Forces Agreement to prevent the pact expiring in August.


Significance It is the only country in South-east Asia with a large-scale nuclear plant, although this was never loaded with fuel. Other countries in the region have tentative plans to develop nuclear power programmes. Impacts The current absence of nuclear power programmes will help avert the diversion of capital from renewable energy development in the region. South-east Asian countries with small, non-power reactors, built for research, will try to maintain these facilities. Across the region, the need for electricity grid investment will increase as more decentralised generation sources are deployed.


Significance The United Kingdom eyes a strategic tilt to the Indo-Pacific, with South-east Asia a key focus because of its economic dynamism and the convening power of ASEAN. The aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth will deploy to the Indo-Pacific for six months later this year. Impacts The United Kingdom’s view of China as a systemic challenger makes a trade pact between the two countries unlikely. UK efforts to conclude a trade deal with India will be frustrated by Delhi’s protectionist approach. London will pursue closer defence cooperation with Tokyo.


Significance It seeks to accelerate recovery from COVID-19 by capitalising on the rise in internet use and digital trade during the pandemic. However, new restrictive laws on internet use in several countries run counter to these regional digital integration goals. Impacts Beijing will give technical and political support to countries such as Cambodia seeking to replicate the Great Firewall on a smaller scale. Authoritarian regimes will use internet controls to advance their commercial interests. Western donor funding for digital projects could be halted.


Significance Meanwhile, the Myanmar junta and the military-aligned Thai government are under pressure from opponents, and the Philippines is gearing up for elections. With COVID-19 vaccination rates varying greatly, some countries in the region are better placed than others to revive their pandemic-hit economies.


2020 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 131-153
Author(s):  
Adebayo Serge Francois Koukpaki ◽  
Kweku Adams ◽  
Adegboyega Oyedijo

PurposeThis research explores the significant contribution of human resource development (HRD) managers in building organisational brands in the hotel industry through the lenses of dynamic capabilities for sustaining competitiveness.Design/methodology/approachUsing a qualitative case study design, this study deployed a semi-structured interview research method. It used a purposive sample of 20 HRD managers across twenty different hotels in India and South East Asia (ISEA) to explore their contribution to organisational brands. The data was analysed using thematic analysis.FindingsThe findings show the significance of HRD in building organisational brands. From a dynamic capabilities perspective, it was found that HRD has an impact on fostering brand awareness culture; HRD functional branding enhances the creation and sustaining of quality service culture; functional branding of HRD helps differentiate the brand and quality service, for product development and innovation by linking talent development and growth of key competencies and capabilities; brand training and behavioural training directly influence the right behaviour knowledge and effective communication that is translated into the enhancement of guest experience; and finally, organisational branding through branding culture and employer branding creates organisational wealth.Originality/valueThe authors propose a new conceptual framework for the branding of the Heroes to reclaim the HRD's splendour in the realm of other functions in the hotel industry in ISEA contexts. While the authors do not claim an external generalisability, we believe that an analytical application of this framework could be relevant in similar environments. The study also claims that HRD practitioners could use parallel literature repertoires from brand management discourse to value their strategic contributions in building and maintaining their reputational position at the board level. Practical implications and further research are discussed.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Duc Phan ◽  
Prem Yapa ◽  
Ha Thanh Nguyen

PurposeThis paper compares and contrasts graduate accountant skills and employers' expectations in South East Asia (SEA).Design/methodology/approachWe analyse the employers' expectation performance gap (EPG) in three countries – Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam – to provide a reflection on current professional accounting development in SEA. The study relies on data derived from multiple sources including job advertisements, CIMA “ready for business” project, Glassdoor website and other secondary data sources.FindingsThe findings indicate that over recent decades, the changing nature of the economy, state, and interest of the business sector (including the “Big Four”) have led to the wider adoption of professional accountancy qualifications. The findings suggest that graduates should be equipped with active learning activities such as project-based and work-integrated training to fill the expectation gaps between local university educators and employers.Research limitations/implicationsDrawing upon a literature review of professional accounting education, we use the results of the documentations and secondary analysis to describe the performance expectation gap of accounting education in SEA.Originality/valueThe study indicates a large discrepancy between the teachings in accounting education and employer requirements in Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia and propose different methods to fill this employability gap in South East Asia.


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