No country in Southeast Asia will be immune to the tough economic and health impact caused by the coronavirus pandemic. It will be crucial to be prepared for the worst.

The Japanese government has unveiled a $2.4 billion fund to finance local companies that move their manufacturing production from China to Japan or Southeast Asia.

South China's Guangdong Province saw its trade with ASEAN countries grow by 7.7% year on year in the first quarter, while its total foreign trade volume dropped due to the novel coronavirus outbreak. The ASEAN became Guangdong's biggest trade partner in the quarter, with trade volume accounting for 16 percent of the province's total commerce.

The government in Phnom Penh is strongly focusing on the renewable energy sector, with a particular focus on solar energy. However, Cambodia is also closely linked to the use of resources such as coal and hydropower.

Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, some 77 new factories, including 34 garment, footwear, and travel goods factories, have opened in Cambodia in the first quarter of 2020. According to official sources, these factories have created around 27,000 jobs.

The Vietnamese government has begun to relax the severe social distancing measures to allow the country to begin a new recovery phase. The careful management of the health emergency by the authorities seems to be having its effects, offering a significant advantage to the Vietnamese economy.

Despite the impact of the pandemic, Vietnam is expected to be the fastest growing economy in Southeast Asia this year. The government has intervened with a credit support package of more than $10 billion and growth is expected to pick up strongly in the coming years.

Japanese electronics company NEC has won a contract worth about 190 million dollars to supply a radar satellite to Vietnam. The Vietnamese authorities are therefore looking at Japan for support in the development of satellite production and management systems.

Vietnam lodged a formal protest after Beijing announced the establishment of two new administrative units in the South China Sea islands. The Vietnamese authorities are urging China to respect Vietnam's sovereignty and not to violate international law

The Vietnamese textile sector is struggling with a sudden drop in orders that could have serious consequences for large clothing manufacturers. If the health emergency continues for a long time, many manufacturing companies may go bankrupt, giving Vietnam, but also the global value chains of fast fashion giants like Zara and H&M, an hard time

Through social and TV campaigns, massive use of tests and apps to control movements, the Vietnamese authorities are successfully managing the health emergency. An interesting article in La Repubblica analyzes this model.

Diverse testate stanno coprendo il tema del peggioramento della crisi sanitaria a Singapore. Bloomberg analizza la parabola del caso Singapore.

Dopo un primo periodo in cui la crisi sanitaria sembrava sotto controllo, sta peggiorando in questi giorni la situazione a Singapore.

Le relazioni tra India e Malesia sono precipitate negli ultimi anni a causa di tensioni politiche e commerciali. Tuttavia, da quando è cambiato il governo a Kuala Lumpur, ci sono stati alcuni segnali di miglioramento. The Diplomat analizza i rapporti tra India e Malesia alla luce degli ultimi sviluppi.