The performance of the Malaysian economy partly reflects sound economic management, as the government has maintained prudent macroeconomic and fiscal policies, said an IMF official.
The Office of Agricultural Economics (OAE) under Thailand’s Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives forecasts that the country’s agricultural economy will grow at a slightly slower but still robust pace of 2–3% in 2026.
An international drug syndicate was busted after Malaysian police seized over 18 tonnes of drugs worth nearly 375 million USD in one of the country’s biggest drug busts on record.
Chea Serey, governor of the National Bank of Cambodia, and Bounkham Vorachit, governor of the Bank of Laos, presided over the launching event held in Phnom Penh.
The Indonesian government said about 14.7 million informal micro enterprises entered the formal sector in 2025, driven by policies to boost productivity, competitiveness and integration into the national economy.
The festival functions as a space to bring together regional OCOP excellence, a forum connecting OCOP stakeholders with distributors, investors, experts and consumers, and a platform to spread pride in indigenous culture, local knowledge, and the aspiration for legitimate prosperity.
The Startup Festival 2025 marked the largest annual event summarising a year-long startup support programme.
The Party and State continue to define infrastructure development as one of the three strategic breakthroughs, with priority given to building comprehensive and modern infrastructure, particularly transport facilities, technological infrastructure, and green – digital transition infrastructure, to help realise the national target of double-digit growth, the PM said.
Indonesia's rice production in 2025 is projected to reach 34.77 million tonnes, up 13.54% year on year, driven by favourable weather and farmer support policies under President Prabowo Subianto’s administration.
According to data compiled by the Ministry of Tourism, the number of tourists from Malaysia reached 2.18 million in the January-October 2025 period, showing a growth of 15.91% compared to last year. Meanwhile, the number of visitors from Singapore totaled 1.19 million this year, growing by 7.66% from 2024.
All construction activities at IKN are aimed at ensuring the city is prepared to assume its role as the political capital by 2028, OIKN Secretary Bimo Adi Nursanthyasto said on December 18.
Indonesia is also actively seeking cooperation with nations that play strategic roles in the global semiconductor supply chain, aiming to develop the industry while strengthening infrastructure for artificial intelligence (AI).
Laos is Thailand’s 7th largest trading partner in ASEAN and 18th globally. From January to October 2025, two-way trade grew by 18.65% to 8.18 billion USD, with Thai exports increasing by 16.90% to 4.81 billion USD and imports rising by 21.23% to 3.60 billion USD.
Thailand expressed openness to further collaboration on railway systems, maintenance technology, and workforce development—areas where Japan is recognised as a global leader.
Experts attributed the worrying trend to factors like people not spending within their means, consumer culture emphasising prestige items, and easier access to credit like “buy now, pay later” services. Analysts said this can be a hint of growing financial pressures faced by Singaporeans amid rising prices.
General Secretary of the Paraguayan Communist Party (PCP) Najeeb Amado said there remains significant potential for bilateral cooperation, ranging from scientific and technological exchanges, education and university-level training, to trade, technology transfer and sustainable development.
Citilink now operates daily Jakarta – Bangkok flights with Airbus A320 aircraft, adding over 5,000 seats per month to Thailand’s air capacity.
Indonesia will revoke 22 forestry permits across the country after deadly floods and landslides devastated parts of the northwestern island of Sumatra.
A major fire that broke out on the morning of December 15 devastated Kramat Jati, Jakarta's largest wholesale food market, destroying at least 350 kiosks.
Criminal networks are believed to be using routes from Palawan to Sabah, then through Malaysia, with final destinations in Myawaddy (Myanmar) or Phnom Penh (Cambodia).
The proportion of respondents who said they could not identify a suitable political party also rose to 32.36%, surpassing all parties for the first time.
Delivering a speech at the Clean Energy Transition Asia (CETA) Summit 2025 in Kuala Lumpur, Fadillah, who is also the energy transition and water transformation minister, said that the Southeast Asian region now drives more than half of the global energy demand.
As disaster-related losses continue to rise, authorities in the affected provinces have decided to extend the state of emergency to ensure resources and legal mechanisms for response efforts. West Sumatra extended it to December 22, North Sumatra to December 24, and Aceh to December 25.
Malaysia’s direction is to focus on building a modern grid, a digital economy powered by trustworthy AI, and climate finance systems that deliver real-world decarbonisation.
The Special AMM on the situation in Cambodia and Thailand will be chaired by Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan in Malaysia’s capacity as the current ASEAN Chair.
In a statement released on his Facebook post, Hun Sen explained that his earlier message, advising the Royal Government to consider suspending cross-border travel, referred specifically to land routes, as tensions are escalating along the entire land border, with some spillover into maritime areas.
A series of special operations have been launched, and over 70,000 foreign nationals involved in these crimes were repatriated to 54 countries over more than two years.
Myanmar authorities have handed over three drug-related fugitives wanted by Thailand and one Thai national who was residing illegally in Myanmar to Thai authorities, according to the Myanmar Police Force.
