Equities had been fluctuating through the day on tempered optimism over China-US trade talks, weak factory data from Beijing and fresh geopolitical tensions in Kashmir.

But they took a decisive turn south after an expected lunch and signing ceremony between the US and North Korean leaders was called off at the last minute.

The shock news came just hours after Kim raised the prospect of a permanent US diplomatic presence in Pyongyang and Trump said he was in “no rush” for a speedy deal over North Korea’s nuclear programme.

    Both men left the summit venue in Hanoi without a public signing ceremony and Trump later told reporters he was not willing to give in to Kim’s demands to lift sanctions on the country.

“It was about the sanctions,” he said. “Basically, they wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety, and we couldn’t do that.”

However, he said the talks ended on friendly terms and he was hopeful of progress further down the line.

Seoul dived 1.8 percent and Tokyo ended 0.8 percent lower, while Shanghai and Hong Kong both shed 0.4 percent. Singapore shed 0.8 percent.

Manila tumbled more than two percent and Jakarta was more than one percent down while Bangkok slipped 0.4 percent, though there were gains in Sydney and Wellington.

The global rally that has characterised most of this year had already taken a knock after US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer told lawmakers that “real progress” had been made in trade talks with China, but a lot of work was still needed before a pact is signed.

While his comments did not derail expectations of an agreement at some point — with both sides reporting good progress and Trump delaying a deadline for a deal — it did give traders pause for thought, observers said.

 – ‘Better sense’ –

“The combination of the lack of progress with North Korea and China will drag on equities and we might have to wait for a new catalyst to renew the bullish start to the year,” said Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com.

Also fuelling selling pressure was figures showing Chinese manufacturing activity contracted for a third straight month in February, with factories hit by the long Lunar New Year break, concerns about slowing growth and uncertainty from the trade row.

However, Zhou Hao, a senior emerging markets economist at Commerzbank AG, said the results were likely not as bad as they seemed and the outlook could be positive.

“I think we still want to wait for the next month’s reading as this month’s is distorted by the holiday,” he said.

“Also the economy could stabilise this month. Rising input prices suggest that there is no need to worry about deflation, so the question now rests on whether the economy has enough impetus.”

Nervousness continues to stalk trading floors after Pakistan and India said they had shot down each other’s fighter jets on Wednesday, fuelling worries of a conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

The developments followed the February 14 suicide bombing by militants in the disputed Kashmir region that that killed 40 Indian troops.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan called for “better sense” to prevail.

On currency markets the pound held gains after touching a near eight-month high earlier Thursday after MPs gave Prime Minister Theresa May more time to work on her EU withdrawal deal after she promised they could delay Brexit if necessary.

Sterling was also given a boost after the opposition Labour Party said it would back a second referendum, having lost a vote on its own Brexit plan Wednesday.

In early trade London and Paris each fell 0.5 percent while Frankfurt shed 0.4 percent.

– Key figures around 0820 GMT –

Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.8 percent at 21,385.16 (close)

Hong Kong – Hang Seng: DOWN 0.4 percent at 28,633.18 (close)

Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.4 percent at 2,940.95 (close)

London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.5 percent at 7,069.89

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3283 from $1.3306 at 2150 GMT

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1391 from $1.1372

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 110.72 yen from 111.00 yen

Oil – West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 29 cents at $57.65 per barrel

Oil – Brent Crude: DOWN 44 cents at $65.95 per barrel

New York – Dow: DOWN 0.3 percent at 25,985.16 (close)

The best way to understand this is to think about reading. Reading is one of the best ways to gain new insights or understand a topic better. But if you were to only read without pushing further, it would mean nothing. In fact, you’d never understand or confirm your assumptions unless you applied them.

Learning is not about reading alone, but is, I’d say, like cooking – you have a lot going on but it only works when there’s a balance in flavours that suit your preference. You add a whole lot of reading, a generous number of Q&A sessions with your teacher or facilitator, and maybe a pinch of discussion with your peers.

With the constant change now underway in our world, continuous learning is the only way to keep ahead. But learning must evolve as well. As the world changes, people change too – and their learning styles change with them. Learning can no longer rely on a one-size-fits-all approach.

But what’s really on the horizon in the learning sphere? Here are five learning trends that you should adopt in your own learning.

1 Personalisation: Personalised learning is no longer limited to a classroom, or to reading books. Learning can happen through online courses or even by watching YouTube tutorial videos. It allows learners to tailor their learning in more effective ways.

Personalised learning also allows learning at a higher speed. You can skip what you already know and move on to acquiring knowledge to make you better at the topic or skill.

2 Gamification: Through gamification, otherwise known as game-based learning, online courses and training workshops apply gaming concepts to learning. Those gaming elements include points, achievement and reward systems.

Gamification is great for two things. First, with the information available in a few clicks, we’re seeing a decrease in people’s attention span. Gamification can allow an increase people’s engagement with learning. Second, the ability to recall learning content has also decreased. Gamification keeps the learners’ interest to better remember and apply their learning.

3 Bite-sized learning: You cannot avoid learning the theory or concepts – they are the basis of understanding for large topics. But sometimes, it can be vast and boring. Bite-sized content is great because it gives learners the right amount of content to stay engaged and to absorb the learning. Added to game-based learning, bite-sized content will offer learners a more engaging approach. This applies to important basic theories and concepts. And because learning is segmented, learners can immediately practise afterwards.

4 Shift towards learner centrism: In the past – and to a certain extent still today – learning focused on pushing content to learners whether they liked it or not. But today, learning should focus on the learner, their learning goals and how they learn as they move towards achieving those goals. Underlying this approach is the reality that learning is different for each individual.

Instead of pushing content that people don’t want, engage the learners with what they need to grow. There is, of course, an exception – when specialising in a skill or topic, certain content must be mastered. But that doesn’t require a forceful content push. The learners have to control their own learning to stay engaged and motivated to learn.

5 Collaborative and social learning: Learning has always been a personal journey, as individual learners have their own learning goals. Yet, that doesn’t mean some goals cannot overlap with other learners.

Learning on your own can be great as you set your own pace, but learning with others brings up discussions and thus, more opportunities to learn. With overlapping learning goals, individuals are able to increase their learning opportunities in social and informal settings through online forums or networking events.

Learning is essential. Without it we don’t grow and if we don’t grow, we cannot keep up with change. As we progress in 2019, we should focus our energies on these evolving trends, and make a commitment to level up your own learning – for yourself and for your business and organisation.

Contributed by ARINYA TALERNGSRI, chief capability officer and managing director at SEAC (formerly APMGroup) Southeast Asia’s lifelong learning centre. She can be reached by email at arinya_t@seasiacenter.com or https://www.linkedin.com/in/arinya-talerngsri-53b81aa

“It is our plan to become the hub in Southeast Asia. We have the infrastructure and ecosystem such as highly skilled players, support from the government and the private sector, and there are several world-class tournaments being organised.

Even though we are still behind China and South Korea, we are quickly catching up with them and are definitely leading other countries in Southeast Asia,” said Chrisada.

“The development of e-sports in Thailand will help contribute both tangible and intangible benefits to the country,” he said.

Chrisada said that the benefits to Thai people and the broader economy are quite clear and can be summarised in three points:

1Investment: E-sports are a global industry and by 2020 are expected to generate US$1.5 billion (Bt47 billion) bin revenues from sponsorship and advertising.

If we can build Thailand to be at the global forefront, we will attract significant investment in to the country from game publishers, sponsors and even e-sport tourism. We are already one of the top tourist destinations in Asia, therefore adding another destination industry will further strengthen and enhance the profile of Thailand.

2Skills development: In line with the government’s ambitious Thailand 4.0 plan to digitise and drive innovation in the economy, e-sports provide an opportunity to drive the plan forward for the Thai people.

As the industry develops, there will be a wealth of opportunities for the country to develop digital marketing expertise and creative skills, and to build innovative content. The average e-sport enthusiast is very young, aged 13-40. It is a real Gen-X industry and as a target they are incredibly sophisticated, says Chrisada, so working in this industry provides an opportunity for Thais to be leaders and innovators in the digital economy.

3Enjoyment: Gaming is hugely entertaining.

Thailand is a mobile-first country and smartphone penetration is high, which has made gaming more accessible to all age groups. Traditionally e-sport was focused on high-end PC gaming or consoles, but with the continued innovations in mobile technology, Chrisada foresees huge potential for e-sports to be playable via mobile technology.

Prize money continues to grow for e-sport tournaments and the more players there are, the greater the prize fund. Who wouldn’t want the opportunity to win prize funds for playing games we love?

“The future potential of e-sports in Thailand is very strong, so much so that the Thai government set up the Thailand E-Sport Federation [TESF], recognised by the Sports Authority of Thailand and a member of the International e-Sports Federation, to support the development and growth of the industry,” said Chrisada.

He said that e-sports as a competition involve multiple players or teams playing video games competitively against each other. They can be organised as both offline and online forms of competition.

They are another form of competitive and spectator sports, and are popular among video-game enthusiasts around the world. They originated similar to how previous sports emerged – if there are two or more teams playing against one another, it becomes a sport.

“Actually, the earliest record of a video-game competition took place on October 19, 1972 at Stanford University for ‘Spacewar’,” says Chrisada. “In 1980, Atari held ‘The Space Invaders Championship’, and that was considered the first major tournament. More than 10,000 participants from across the United States ensured that competitive gaming was put on the map.

During the 2010s, e-sports grew tremendously in both viewership and prize money.

“The number of tournaments has increased significantly from only 10 tournaments in 2000 to about 260 tournaments in 2010. During 2011, e-sports became popular in Thailand, thanks to a game known casually by many Thai gamers a ‘HON’ or ‘Heroes of Newerth’,” said Chrisada.

“Today, there are approximately 18 million gamers in Thailand, the 20 highest in the world (according to the 2017 Global e-Sports Market Report conducted by Newzoo). A recent study done by Hootsuite also states that 31 per cent of the population watch live streaming of others playing games and 20 per cent watch e-sports tournaments. That number is highly impressively in such a short period of time and is expected to continue growing significantly,” he explained.

Chrisada said that E-sports Thai Leagues (ETL) was established by four e-sports clubs – Giant E-sports, Illuminate E-sports, LYNX TH, and Xavier E-sports – to promote that community in Thailand.

“The mission of our organisation is to build a strong e-sports ecosystem to support the fast growth of the e-sports industry in Thailand,” he said.

“The main challenge in Thailand for e-sports is in the perception of video games overall. Too much screen time is, of course, bad for people’s health, but we can also draw parallels. It is quite similar to office workers who on average work 7 to 8 hours a day on their laptops, which is deemed acceptable because they are in traditional professional industries,” he said.

“The key for us is to not just focus on the actual gaming, but the potential of the industry overall and how to make it professional. This is really the most important development point for us, creating a professional industry that adds value.

“Imagine the first stages of development for professional athletes such as footballers in the English Premier League. Historically, playing football as a profession was also not seen as a sustainable or real career. However, look at the global reach now of football tournaments around the world, the associated industries that have developed as a result of it and the quality of the end product. E-sport has that opportunity now; we are at the beginning stages of building and contributing to a new global industry that will only become bigger.

The possibilities are really endless in terms of the future impact we can have on people and industry,” said Chrisada.

E-sports Thai Leagues will hold a press conference for “Pro Evolution Soccer Thailand Amateur Community Tournament Season 1 2019” or “PTAC Season 1 2019”. Pro Evolution Soccer 2019 (PES) is a football simulation published by Konami.

The online round competition, with more than 64 competitors, is from March 12-14, and the offline competition, comprising the semi-final and final rounds, will be on March 24. The registration period for applicants opens today and runs until March 10.

Automotive manufacturing saw the largest year-on-year growth in January, growing by 8.69 per cent, while computer and parts took the biggest hit, falling by 11.10 per cent.

The key factors influencing the manufacturing sectors in January were the decline in exports, and an improved level of domestic consumption.

Last month, the MPI grew by a modest 0.18 per cent, pushed mainly by production growth in the automotive industry.

However, it also experienced production contractions in various goods such as that of computer parts and rubber. The automotive industry saw an 8.1 per cent year-on-year growth in production. In January, 179,595 cars were manufactured, increasing from 166,196 cars in December last year, according to data from the |OIE.

“Despite declining exports, the key reason for the boost in car production is the increase in domestic consumption,” Nattapol Rangsitpol, director-general of the OIE, yesterday told a press conference.

Of the total number of cars produced last month, 78,061 were sold in the country, increasing from 66,545 cars in December last year.

“This marks a 17.4 per cent year-on-year increase, the 25th consecutive month with an increase in domestic sales,” Nattapol claimed.

Meanwhile, car exports have continued to decline, falling from 82,067 in December to 81,583 last month, a 0.6 per cent contraction.

The OIE has forecast the manufacture of 2.15 million cars in 2019, falling from the 2.167 million produced in 2018 due to the decline in exports and the |uncertain global economic situation.

Meanwhile, the production of electrical appliances and electronic goods fell by 5.2 per cent in January.

The category accounts for 3.1 per cent of total manufacturing production in the Kingdom.

Nattapol attributed that decline to the falling price of the solid state drive (SSD) used for data storage in computers.

The manufacture of traditional hard disk drives (HDD), a competing product to the SSD, accounts for 35 per cent of Thailand’s total electronic goods manufactured.

Due to the falling price of the SSD as well as its better performance, demand for the HDD has taken a hit, and in January, the production of computer parts fell by 11.10 per cent year on year.

Rubber production also saw a contraction in production growth. Last month, rubber tyres for cars and motorcycles took a 0.5 per cent and 11.22 per cent hit, respectively.

“This is largely a result of a decline in orders for replacement tyres as well as the increase in competition from Chinese tyre makers,” Nattapol stated.

“Chinese tyre makers have been selling tyres at a cheaper price compared to tyres sold by Thai manufacturers,” he explained.

The highest investment proposal comes from a Chinese investor, Ju Xunning, who plans to invest Bt10.061 billion to establish a car tyre production project in Chon Buri province, according to the BoI.

“The project will help promote the rubber industry in Thailand. It will use up to 23,838 tonnes of rubber per year, with an estimated value of Bt1.433 billion,” BoI secretary-general Duangjai Asawachintachit said yesterday during a press conference at Government House.

A project by General Rubber, another car tyre maker, was also approved at yesterday’s meeting.

The firm aims to invest Bt9.721 billion in their project based in Rayong province and use 35,398 tonnes of rubber per year, valued at Bt1.673 billion.

Two other projects come from the aviation industry: Thai Airways (THAI), in partnership with a foreign company, will invest Bt6.468 billion to open a maintenance, repair and overhaul hub in Rayong province. The identity of THAI’s partner was not revealed at the meeting.

“This investment project will increase the capabilities and competitiveness of Thailand’s aviation industry, further attracting investment in the future,” Duangjai said.

An investment project by Thai Lion Air, a low-cost airline, worth Bt6.968 billion was approved.

Another investment project by AW Thailand, an auto-parts manufacturer, also got the nod. The firm plans to invest Bt7.244 billion in a project based in Chon Buri.

The project will supply car parts throughout the country as well as abroad.

This will, in turn, help reduce imports of automobile parts, Duangjai said.

The BoI secretary-general said that though the global economy remained uncertain in 2019, the investment prospects for Thailand were promising.

“The BoI is hosting the ‘Thailand Investment Year, What’s New’ seminar on March 4, and some 1,500 investors have already signed up,” said Duangjai, stating further that after the seminar, an investment clinic will be held for investors who are interested in applying for the BoI’s investment incentives.

Of the 1,500 investors joining the event, approximately 400 are foreign investors, she said.

“Furthermore, up to 500 investors have registered for the investment clinic, indicating they are interested in applying for BoI incentives,” she explained.

The BoI also decided at yesterday’s meeting to offer incentives to oil refineries for improving their toxic emission standards.

“To combat the PM2.5 (airborne dust particles 2.5 microns in diameter or less) air pollution, the BoI has finalised incentives for oil refineries in Thailand to improve their toxic emission standards from EURO 4 to EURO 5,” she stated.

Under the incentive, oil refineries will receive duties exemption for import of machinery required for improving their oil production quality.

There are currently six oil refineries in Thailand, and only two of them have improved their toxic emission standards from EURO 4 to EURO 5.

To receive the BoI investment incentive, Duangjai urged the remaining four refineries to submit their application documents by December 31 this year.

And now that Bangkok’s air is more breathable, largely thanks to shifting winds, it’s worth looking past these short-term solutions to examine both the roots of the problem and how decision makers can help improve our city’s air quality over the long term.

I believe the memory of Bangkok’s smog crisis remains fresh enough – or foul enough – that everyone will respond positively towards efforts to counter future calamities. With that in mind, we can draw on the success of others who have faced similar challenges.

China’s example

China’s ongoing battle with air pollution is a good example because the scale and severity of its problem was beyond that of nearly any other country, necessitating a similarly large-scale response. During the “airpocalypse” in the winter of 2013, the air quality index (AQI) in several Chinese cities was regularly in the danger zone, with Beijing at hazardous levels of up to 500, due to a decades-long policy of “grow first, clean up later”.

Following public outcry, international concern and mounting evidence that pollution was hindering economic growth, the Chinese government declared a “war on pollution”. This began with a series of initiatives that targeted the causes of pollution, including lax regulations for factories and construction sites and the high numbers of private cars on city streets.

To cut emissions, the Chinese government cracked down on “dirty” vehicles and replaced old buses and police cars with electric models while expanding public transit networks. They also installed sensors all around the country to monitor levels of pollutants so that citizens could keep track and report offenders.

As a result, many of China’s major cities have seen marked huge drops in pollutants in just a few years, including a 40 per cent decrease in Beijing. China now produces nearly half of the world’s electric vehicles (EV), with sales increasing due to a mix of enforced standards, subsidies for manufacturers, and consumer incentives such as removing the licence-plate fee for new EVs, which can cost nearly Bt500,000 in Shanghai.

The struggle for blue skies in China is far from over, but the country has made a promising start that others can learn from, including Thailand.

The Road to Transformation

Much of the challenge of fighting pollution is simply recognising the unique problems that we face here. While North European countries like Norway may have gone further, I’ve used China’s example to show that sufficient will is able to overcome even the most immense obstacles.

Like Beijing, vehicle exhaust is the largest contributor to Bangkok’s pollution. This is partly due to the city’s heavy traffic congestion, which forces drivers to spend time idling and emitting exhaust. It’s also due to the high prevalence of large diesel vehicles driving through the city centre, which cause further traffic problems and emits even more pollutants than petrol vehicles.

Widespread adoption of EVs has the potential to make a big difference, but everyone needs to help make the shift to green transportation happen. If Thailand is to meet its goal of 1.2 million electric vehicles on the road by 2036, it may require both Chinese-style subsidies for manufacturers (which will help lower prices) and European-style credit or tax breaks for consumers on both EV purchases and trade-ins of internal combustion engines vehicles. While this may have high up-front costs, it can improve the quality of life for Thais and cement the Thai auto industry’s growth as a regional hub.

All of those EVs will also require more supporting infrastructure. The network of public EV charging stations in Thailand is growing, but we will need many more to support nationwide electrification. To help us get there, businesses that install EV chargers, for customers or employees, need to be supported through incentives such as tax credits.

While electrification will provide cleaner transportation, ideally much of the power generation should be sustainable. Thailand’s plentiful sunshine makes solar power an attractive renewable energy source. Various smart city projects throughout the country are generating and using renewable energy, but the authorities can take the next steps to create incentives to encourage selling to the grid and among “prosumers” (P2P).

Towards a cleaner Thailand

Thailand has a lot to gain from cleaning up. Healthy people work better, live longer, and require less care. Air quality can make a huge impression on visitors to a country that depends on its tourism industry for up to 20 per cent of GDP.

Delta Thailand has staked the future of our business on Thailand’s sustainable development. We’ve designed and built ultra-efficient EV charging solutions that make EVs a convenient and affordable method of transportation.

And we hope to work with Thailand’s decision makers to build nationwide public charging networks-as we have in India and Europe.

Like Delta, many factories in Thailand are using rooftop solar power to cut polluting emissions and boost energy savings. Delta’s solar power solutions are powering green factories and can combine with our energy storage to offer flexible grid support. And I believe the public is ready to embrace our indoor air quality solutions that enrich the lives of people around the world with clean air ventilation and PM2.5 filtration for homes.

But we need support from decision makers to accelerate change. And so I hope that we will see Thai authorities using the recent pollution crisis as a learning opportunity as they consider the future of Thailand – and proactively choose innovative sustainable solutions that can clear up Bangkok’s air for good.

Curtis Ku leads the renewable energy and energy storage solutions and EV charging solutions businesses at Delta Electronics Thailand. Delta has installed EV charging stations in various locations in Thailand and plans to rapidly expand its charging network across the country.

Wannee Chinsirikul, Nanotec’s executive director under the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), said the Thai researcher team discussed ongoing collaboration to develop innovative precision nanomedicine for cancer therapy, in a meeting with researchers from iCONM and University of Tokyo. Nanomedicine-based cancer therapy is one part of a policy for creating a smart health social platform.

The meeting discussed related leading-edge science and technology, with a focus on the developments related to terminating cancer cells by use of a drug delivery system that uses nanoparticles to store the drug. By this means, the treatment precisely attacks the cancer cells, with highly positive results and fewer side effects for patients.

“We have agreed to exchange researchers from both institutes to boost cooperation on health and medicine development,” Wannee said. “Progress was made after the Thai Minister of Science and Technology made a visit to iCONM last year.” The bilateral collaboration on nanotechnology development will be very useful for medical science in Thailand, she added.

Moreover, Nanotec’s executives, researchers and private companies met with Japan Bridgestone Cooperation company. They focused on nanomaterial development to improve services for various industry sectors and on increasing product value, together with environmental protection from recycling technology.

“Nanocoating is one example that could be applied for solar cells, as well as other products. It is also useful for soft robotic research and development, especially the development of polymer and rubber for increasing a robot’s flexibility. That technology could be further developed for artificial organs in the future,” she added.

Other research by Carbano regarding adjusting the structure of radioactive materials to bring them in line with industry’s requirements, is done based on nanotechnology.

The Nanotec team was led by Professor Dr Pairash Thajchayapong, chairman of Nanotec executive board, last month attended the 1st University of Tokyo-iCONM-Nanotec Joint Research Meeting on Precision Nanomedicine hosted by the University of Tokyo and the Innovation Centre of NanoMedicine (iCONM).

For Asean bond markets to stand out, there needs to be both an availability of varied bond deals for investors and a wider access to debt financing options for issuers. The year ahead will show us how a greater abundance of choices can benefit portfolios and balance sheets.

Intra-Asean issuances and regional bond deals denominated in the G3 currencies (US dollars, euros and yen) are expected to feature strongly. In 2018, G3 bond deals as a proportion of overall bond funding in the region rose to 37 per cent from 27 per cent in 2013. Having a balanced mix of access to both local- and foreign-currency bonds allows borrowers to reach a bigger group of institutional and retail investors.

In turn, more consistent debt offerings by established private companies and larger state-owned enterprises in Asean could build a virtuous cycle that leads to the region’s bonds being top of mind for investors. The wider selection, be it in sectors, yields, ratings, or currency exposure, is set to further deepen the liquidity pool of investors by attracting greater interest from home-grown pension funds, insurers and asset managers.

As the region’s growth outlook remains robust, supported by domestic consumption, retail investors will also become a fast-growing group in the bond market. Take for example Vietnam, where greater prosperity runs through every aspect of the economy. The development of its retail bond market could become a strong force to be reckoned with for neighbouring countries such as the Philippines and Singapore. Still, we expect a strong repeat of retail demand in these markets. In Singapore, there was a significant retail play last year with high quality issues such as those by Astrea IV and Temasek. Bond issues by Philippine banks, with their strong name recognition and credit profile, have also been highly sought after by retail investors.

A reliable and stable benchmark in government bonds will also spur more transparency in credit pricing. Government bonds form an important benchmark in many Asean local-currency markets, where issuers price at a spread over the respective government yields.

To ensure that government bonds are an effective benchmark for credit products, the various initiatives by local regulators have an important role to play in creating diverse products and hedging instruments to further instil stability in local-currency government bonds.

In 2019, regional economic development and global initiatives will bode well for the development of Asean’s bond markets. Investors can expect new names from within Asean or the international scene. Last year, Standard Chartered successfully brought Laos’ power operator EDL-Generation to Thailand. Such cross-market flows will become a bigger theme this year.

New firsts could also dominate the markets. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) made its debut in the onshore Philippine bond market by issuing peso-denominated green bonds in June 2018. As sustainable development becomes more embedded in government policies and corporate practices, expect to see more of such interest in the region.

Furthermore, with China’s bond markets opening up further, there will be more choices coming out by way of Panda bonds. The Philippine government’s landmark Panda bond transaction last year could see other followers from the region.

Choices will be the theme for Asean bond markets in 2019. But choices are only as good as the quality of the options and investors’ ability to discern among them. Standard Chartered, one of the leading foreign banks in the Asean bond market, and other financial institutions must continue to add value by bringing regional and international best practices into the region. Only then can our funding pool grow deeper and more liquid. And now the choice is for you to take.

AARON GWAK is head of capital markets/Asean for Standard Chartered Bank.