Japan’s Economy & Trade (A Video Interview with Watanabe Yorizumi)
Memo #280 Featuring Watanabe Yorizumi Last month the Asia Pacific Memo sat down with Watanabe Yorizumi, since 2005 a member of the Faculty of Policy Management at the Graduate School of Media and Governance, Keio University. Professor Watanabe came to his academic career with a distinguished diplomatic background, having served several appointments in Japan’s foreign service, […]
Voices from Indonesia’s Rising Policy Elites: a Confident, Flexible, and Creative Indonesia
Memo #275 By Yves Tiberghien – yves.tiberghien [at] ubc.ca Asia is in the midst of a great uplift, but also great social change and geopolitical transformation. In the midst of China’s rise, China-Japan tensions, India’s new voice, and the US pivot, how are Indonesians thinking and planning? Indonesia is only slowly waking up to its […]
At the Frontier of the Middle Income Trap: Remarkable Parallels between India’s and Indonesia’s Elections
Memo #274 By Yves Tiberghien – yves.tiberghien [at] ubc.ca India and Indonesia are both facing crucial elections this year: May for India and July for Indonesia (April for parliament). Although contexts are different and their ties are rarely explored, they face remarkably similar economic issues. Both are seen as successful emerging powers of the 2000s […]
Reforming “Regular” Employment in Japan: A Target of Abenomics’ “Third Arrow”
Memo #273 By Scott North – north [at] hus.osaka-u.ac.jp “Regular” employment in Japan connotes unlimited samurai-style devotion by employees, with employers responsible for worker well-being and employment stability. Japan’s courts cite this relationship ideal to restrict employers’ legal right to dismiss workers. Therefore, to cut costs, employers have turned to increasing non-regular employees, which now […]
Redback Rising: Canada’s Role in the Internationalization of the Renminbi
Memo #267 By Grégoire Legault – gregoire.legault [at] alumni.ubc.ca The Chinese renminbi, or “people’s currency” (人民币), has been internationalizing more rapidly than experts had previously forecast, even though the country’s capital account remains closed and the currency’s exchange rate is still not allowed to float freely. The redback is crossing national borders at a transitional stage in […]
Local Voices in Water Resources Management: A Case Study in Negotiated Approach from Bangladesh
Memo #265 By Mustafa Alam – mstfalam [at] gmail.com A case study from Bangladesh highlights the success of a negotiated approach to water resources management, wherein the participation of the local populace in the planning and decision-making process is ensured, local knowledge is used and local stakeholders empowered. In the Khulna and Jessore districts of […]
NGO Funding and Overhead Costs: Fallacies and Misconceptions
Memo #262 By Xue-Rong Jia – xue-rong.jia [at] alumni.ubc.ca Almost every international non-governmental organizations (INGO) releases an annual report summarizing its activities and achievements for the year, including a breakdown of its revenues and expenses. For example, last year Save the Children spent 3.8 percent of its revenues for administrative purposes, 9 percent in fundraising […]
Fragmentation vs. Integration in Asia in 2014: A Year for the History Books
Memo #259 By Yves Tiberghien – yves.tiberghien [at] ubc.ca In the wake of major leadership change around East Asia, what will be the major trends in the Asia/Pacific region in 2014? Did the battle over the Chinese Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) and the provocative visit to Yasukuni Temple by Prime Minister Abe on December […]
A Strategic Discovery: Rare Earth Elements Bonanza in the DPRK
Memo #258 By Marie-Pier Baril – mariepier.baril [at] gmail.com Earlier this month, MiningWeekly announced the world’s largest known single reserve of rare earth elements (REE) was discovered in Jongju, North Pyongan province, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK, or North Korea). The DPRK’s mineral resources have always been substantial, but the discovery of such rare […]
Hybridity is the New Norm: Korean Cinema in a Global Age
Memo #248 By Dal Yong Jin – yongjin23 [at] gmail.com After a period of recession, the Korean film industry has experienced a revival in recent years with the market success of several hybrid films, successes that have served to boost the overall market share of domestic films in Korea. Prior to this, the domestic Korean […]