Know What's Happening in Emerging Markets
Know What's Happening in Emerging Markets
Taiwan Secures New LNG Supply Commitments Amid Middle‑East Tensions
Taiwan’s economy minister said a major LNG‑producing country has pledged to meet the island’s natural‑gas needs and will provide extra cargoes on request. The agreement with the United States adds a delivery of 1.2 million tonnes of LNG each year, diversifying Taiwan’s import mix as the Iran war threatens Middle‑East supplies.
A suicide bomber from the Islamic State Khorasan Province struck a Chinese‑owned restaurant in Kabul on Jan. 19, killing seven and injuring dozens. The attack exposed the Taliban’s inability to guarantee security for foreign nationals, undermining its claims of a safe investment environment. It also directly challenged China’s growing economic foothold in Afghanistan, where Beijing has pledged mineral investments. The incident, coupled with rising Taliban‑Pakistan clashes, adds uncertainty to the country’s broader investment climate.
Ukraine has lost roughly a quarter of its civilian workforce since the 2022 invasion, with 3.5 million workers displaced, mobilised, or killed. Despite this shock, aggregate job‑matching efficiency declined only about 15%, a smaller drop than during the 2008 U.S. financial...
Rising crude prices, driven by the Iran‑Israel conflict, could push the Philippine peso past the 59 per‑dollar threshold. MUFG forecasts the PHP trading between 58.5 and 59.5 if oil steadies around $90 a barrel, while JP Morgan sees a modest global...
China’s foreign ministry publicly condemned Israeli and U.S. military strikes against Iran, urging an immediate cease‑fire and emphasizing diplomatic solutions. Wang Yi’s call with Israel’s Gideon Sa’ar highlighted Beijing’s call for de‑escalation and protection of shipping lanes in the region....
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In February 2026 President Donald Trump and President Prabowo Subianto signed a U.S.-Indonesia Agreement on Reciprocal Trade that obliges Jakarta to facilitate $10 billion of U.S. investment and import roughly $33 billion of American goods, mainly energy and agriculture. The deal was...
Tensions between China and Japan have escalated after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s November statement linking Japan’s response to a potential Chinese attack on Taiwan. Japan’s recent electoral win has enabled a surge in defense spending, while China signals willingness...
India has urged developed nations at the WTO ministerial to adopt concrete technology‑transfer measures that would help developing and least‑developed countries access advanced, environmentally‑sound inputs. The proposal highlights export controls on semiconductor chips and rare‑earth minerals, as well as rigid...
India and the United Kingdom are set to activate the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) by early April, granting Indian exporters duty‑free access to 99% of the UK market. However, the ongoing West Asia conflict threatens to disrupt shipping...
India’s National Data and Analytics Platform (NDAP) will undergo a major revamp as NITI Aayog seeks a private‑sector partner to redesign, operate and hand over the system. The upgrade aims to handle vastly larger data volumes, add advanced analytics and...
The Gulf states are rapidly running out of interceptors. They have already burned through more than half their stockpile trying to stop low-cost Shahed drones, and soon they may have to ignore drones entirely to conserve missiles for ballistic threats. That...
The Atlantic Council’s #AtlanticDebrief interview with Croatia’s Special Envoy Romana Vlahutin outlines the agenda for the 2026 Three Seas Summit in Dubrovnik. Senior Fellow Ian Brzezinski and Vlahutin discuss how the summit will focus on strategic connectivity, energy diversification, and...
The failed December 7, 2025 coup in Benin has left Niger’s military government even more isolated, sharpening a diplomatic opening for Washington. Niger’s junta seized roughly 1,000 tons of uranium yellowcake from French firm Orano, but legal rulings and transit obstacles have frozen...
The Diplomat’s Asia Geopolitics podcast examined the U.S. and Israeli bombing of Iran, framing it as a flashpoint that could reshape Asian strategic calculations. Hosts Ankit Panda and Catherine Putz highlighted how the conflict tests nuclear deterrence credibility and may inspire North...
IDB Invest is committing up to $185 million to Genneia S.A. to develop four solar parks and 40 MW of battery storage across Argentina. The solar projects total 340 MW, with sites in Mendoza, San Juan and Buenos Aires, while the battery system will connect...
IDB Invest is extending up to $185 million in financing to Argentine renewable leader Genneia to develop four solar parks and a 40 MW battery storage system. The solar projects total 340 MW across Mendoza, San Juan and Buenos Aires provinces, while the battery will...
Emerging market equities delivered a 33.6% return in 2025, the strongest since 2017, outpacing the MSCI World’s 21.1% gain. Analysts cite continued dollar weakness, lower valuations, and AI exposure as catalysts for further outperformance into 2026. Inflows are expected as...
U.S. pharmaceutical tariffs on EU imports have risen to 15% after a brief 10% measure, reviving trade tensions despite a prior MFN deal. Europe is pursuing alternative markets, notably a new EU‑India free‑trade agreement that could eliminate up to 11%...
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Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Davos speech called on Canada, India, Australia and Japan to form a middle‑powers club as the liberal order strains under U.S. pressure. The proposal marks a shift toward collective diversification away from the United States...
The Port of Chancay, inaugurated in 2024, is a joint COSCO‑Volcan venture financed by a $975 million Chinese loan. In its first ten months of operation, the port moved $1.88 billion in trade and generated $234 million in customs revenue, moving toward a...
African ecommerce still wrestles with deep‑rooted trust gaps, turning checkout into a conversational process often mediated through WhatsApp. Local platforms like Paystack, Flutterwave, and Egypt’s Fawry have succeeded by offering instant bank transfers, mobile‑money protocols such as STK Push, and cash‑at‑kiosk...
The Asia‑Pacific is emerging as a pivotal arena where cryptocurrency intersects with sanctions enforcement and state strategy. Blockchain’s peer‑to‑peer settlement bypasses traditional banking chokepoints, allowing actors—from North Korean hackers to Russian entities—to launder stolen assets through mixers, cross‑chain bridges and...
Since Turkey’s 2016 energy policy, the country has transformed from a pipeline‑dependent gas importer to a diversified market anchored by rapid LNG expansion. Regasification capacity rose fivefold to 150 million cubic metres per day, driven by a fleet of FSRUs that...
US Department of State instructs all American civilians to leave the Middle East North Africa region.
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The article defines the “gray zone” as a strategic space where states apply coercive actions that fall short of open warfare, leveraging ambiguity and deniability. It highlights how Russia, China, Iran and even the United States employ cyber intrusions, disinformation,...
#IranWatch🇮🇷: Today, I measure Iran’s inflation at a PUNISHING 87.2%/yr. That's the world's THIRD HIGHEST INFLATION RATE. I remain the only reliable source of inflationary measures in Iran. https://t.co/Ur4qSrFxia
Term premia should reflect the hedging qualities of government bonds. If we are going to keep getting negative supply shocks - which reduce equities and raise yields, creating a positive return correlation - term premia need to be a lot...
On March 3, 2026, coordinated U.S. and Israeli airstrikes continued to degrade Iranian command, missile and naval infrastructure while collateral damage caused civilian casualties. Major marine reinsurers issued 72‑hour war‑risk cancellation notices for the Persian Gulf and adjacent waters, effective March 5,...
The Dollar is rallying sharply. When this kind of Dollar strength happens, risk of disorderly market conditions and problems in the US Treasury market rise, because the highly leveraged basis trade can get hit as EM central banks sell their...
China issued a 20‑point guideline to fast‑track a sci‑tech insurance system, positioning the sector as an economic shock absorber for innovation. The policy targets both flagship national projects and SMEs, creating a national coordination mechanism and dedicated risk‑reserve funds. It...
Here is the latest 7-day rolling number from the Strait of Hormuz. Impacted? Yes. Closed? No. https://t.co/paTmzStHh6
India’s growth is shifting from cyclical consumption to a structural, investment‑led model, driven by a surge in public capital expenditure that rose from roughly ₹4.4 lakh crore in FY 19 to over ₹11 lakh crore in FY 25. The government has paired this spending with tax stability, massive...
Rare earth elements are critical for clean‑energy technologies, but the geopolitical push to cut China’s dominance is driving extraction in fragile ecosystems such as the deep‑sea Pacific mud, Brazil’s Amazon, Greenland, Mongolia and Madagascar. Mining and processing produce massive toxic...
Mexico’s government hailed 2025 capital investment as reaching historic highs, but the underlying data tells a different story. Year‑over‑year growth was roughly 2%, a modest rise that barely nudges the long‑term trend upward. Critics argue the figures are underwhelming and...
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Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry condemned Iran’s drone strike on the U.S. embassy in Riyadh as “cowardly” and a breach of international law, warning that such attacks could heighten regional escalation. The drones caused a fire and minor damage but no...
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Indian coffee exports are accelerating, with January‑February shipments up 40% to 80,931 tonnes and total 2025 sales surpassing $2 billion. The West Asia and North Africa region, accounting for roughly 20% of exports, is now a key growth market after Europe....
The U.S. dollar is strengthening across major G10 pairs as the Middle East conflict fuels risk aversion, pushing the euro, yen, and sterling lower. Emerging market currencies such as the peso, yuan and real also slide, while equity markets suffer...
India is negotiating to acquire Israel’s Iron Dome and Iron Beam systems to plug a critical short‑range gap in its multi‑layered air‑defense architecture, known as Mission Sudarshan Chakra. The plan emphasizes sensor‑fusion, centralized command and cost‑effective interception of drones, rockets...
Kazakhstan's manufacturing PMI fell to 48.1 in February, down from 49.8 in January, indicating sector contraction. The decline reflects weaker domestic demand, higher tax pressure from a January VAT increase, and firms cutting staff, purchases, and inventories. Despite the downturn,...
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Iranian Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi announced that Iran’s intelligence services have "complete oversight" of U.S. and Israeli targets and can pinpoint the locations of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meetings on March 3. He accused the United States of serving Israel’s interests,...
War‑risk insurance for vessels is set to rise sharply as insurers cancel coverage amid the West Asia conflict. Premiums for hull and cargo have jumped to about 1 % of cargo value, up from 0.25‑0.5 % previously. Shipping lines are rerouting around...
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The International Atomic Energy Agency verified that recent strikes damaged the entrance buildings of Iran’s Natanz Fuel Enrichment Plant, based on satellite imagery, but found no radiological release. The underground enrichment hall remains intact, limiting immediate safety concerns. Natanz, already...
U.S. and Israeli strikes prompted Iran’s Revolutionary Guard to announce a closure of the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most vital oil chokepoints. The move threatens to halt commercial traffic, immediately spiking crude prices and prompting insurers to...
The piece contrasts the Biden administration’s aggressive antitrust stance with the Trump administration’s pro‑merger agenda. It points to the blocked Spirit‑JetBlue and Amazon‑iRobot deals as regulatory missteps that resulted in bankruptcy and layoffs. It then highlights Kimberly‑Clark’s $48.7 billion acquisition of...
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. met South Korean President Lee Jae‑Myung in Manila, reaffirming Manila’s expectation of continued Korean support for flagship infrastructure works such as the new Dumaguete Airport, Samar Pacific Coastal Road, Jalaur River Multipurpose Project and Laguna Lakeshore...
Philippine real estate is entering a new design era focused on regenerative, people‑centric environments that restore ecosystems and enhance wellbeing. Thought leaders highlight AI‑driven optimization, prefabricated construction, and material innovations such as engineered bamboo as key enablers. Mixed‑use, walkable neighborhoods...
China has reclaimed its position as Asia’s busiest buyout market, according to Deloitte’s latest private‑equity report. A surge in domestic and regional fund activity offset a decline in Western capital, driving a 28% increase in deal volume year‑over‑year. The market...
