Japan, ASEAN to launch joint QR code payment services in FY2025. China is also far ahead.

Good news!

Plus "China has a cashless system that uses QR code mobile payments, primarily WeChat Pay and Alipay. QR codes are used for payments on websites, in physical stores, in media advertising, and other scenarios."

"Japan is in talks with Southeast Asian countries to enable joint use of QR code payment services, which would let international travelers make purchases abroad using their own payment methods.

 

The initiative will make QR code systems compatible with each other by fiscal 2025, allowing cashless payments in different countries without having to change money. "

Japan, ASEAN to launch joint QR code payment services in FY2025 - Nikkei Asia International travelers expected to benefit from initiative

China’s digital payments revolution

ASEAN As An Indo-Pacific Middle Power: Shaping The Emerging Regional Order – Analysis

I did not have time to read it, but the headline expresses a very possible development shaping the future of Asia.

The article appears to give little credit to India! Actually, India is not even mentioned once in this article. What a glaring omission!!!

"The emerging Indo-Pacific geostrategic construct marks a momentous shift in regional dynamics, heralding the dawn of a new order that replaces the well-known Asia Pacific framework. Despite initial reservations, Southeast Asian nations have gradually embraced the reality of this burgeoning regional order, as evident through the “ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific,” which serves as a guiding framework for ASEAN’s engagement in the Indo-Pacific region. At the core of this emerging structure is the United States’ vision, articulated in its Indo-Pacific Strategy, which seeks to counterbalance China’s influence. To achieve this objective, the US has introduced initiatives that deliberately exclude China such as the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QUAD), the AUKUS trilateral security partnership involving Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF). ..."

ASEAN As An Indo-Pacific Middle Power: Shaping The Emerging Regional Order – Analysis – Eurasia Review

Malaysia's new Prime Minister Anwar tightens Singapore ties in ASEAN travel rush

Good news! Sounds promising!

"Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Monday met Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong in his first official visit to the city-state as leader, sealing a trio of deals and cementing relations with a key neighbor.

After taking office last November, following a tumultuous election, Anwar has kicked off 2023 with a string of trips to fellow members of the Associations of Southeast Asian Nations. In the span of a month he has also visited Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo in Jakarta and gone to Brunei to see Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah. ..."

Malaysia's Anwar tightens Singapore ties in ASEAN travel rush - Nikkei Asia New PM focuses on economic cooperation on third visit to a neighbor in a month

Modi’s Historic Blunder in Rejecting RCEP

This article caught me off guard! RCEP? I had no idea what the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership is about even though it was launched in 2012 at an ASEAN conference.

Unfortunately, the article below does not present the reasons very well or at all why Prime Minister Modi chose to leave RCEP. The article is very one sided!

According to Wikipedia Modi pulled out, because India fears to be flooded with cheap Chinese products. Given the history of China's mercantilist trade policies, this fear cannot be easily dismissed.

Modi’s Historic Blunder in Rejecting RCEP - Spontaneous Order: India is out of both RCEP and the 11-member TPP; the two agreements that will define the future of international trade in the 21st century.