Economic diplomacy: trade and traps in ASEAN

Ecommerce is booming in Southeast Asia, posing a challenge for Australia where goods trade tends to dominate discussion.

image from

Greg Earle, lowyinstitute.org

Excerpt:

Middle aged spread

Southeast Asian countries are about to become the primary focus of Australia’s public diplomacy [JB emphasis] this year as the “Australia now” program stretches its budget from the usual single country approach to all ten countries of the ASEAN group.

This stepped-up focus on Australia’s closest Asian neighbours comes amid a growing debate about how these countries are negotiating their transition through middle-income status – or otherwise avoiding the so-called middle-income trap. ...