Advanced Asia is undergoing a critical transformation as aging populations, fiscal constraints, and slowing productivity converge with technological disruption and trade fragmentation. Traditional growth models built on industrialization and global integration are being tested, requiring policymakers and business leaders to rethink strategies. This briefing explores the structural risks to employment, public finance, and inequality, proposing reforms focused on industrial renewal, labor market redesign, fiscal innovation, and leveraging technology as a tool for inclusive and sustainable growth.
Staying ahead will require diversifying in hi-tech sectors, boosting workforce resilience and advancing sustainable supply chains
Asian countries may suffer setbacks in their manufacturing ambitions if they aren’t able to produce more sustainably from the start and decarbonise rapidly
If India is to successfully double the size of its economy by 2030, the only viable path is raising the number of women in the workforce
Cooperation among nations in the Global South has enabled developing economies to help each other through knowledge and technology transfers. Using this approach to address the digital infrastructure gap and build a highly skilled workforce can keep emerging countries from falling further behind.
The Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, India, and Thailand have benefited from global supply chain diversification and are poised to capitalize on their large labor pool and potential consumer market to reach the next level of development
Asia’s “thriving tiger” economies have managed to hold their own against developed economies in other regions for decades. However, amid geopolitical fragmentation, game-changing technological advancements and social divisions, they need to adapt quickly.
From electricity to public transport and logistics, more inter-regional cooperation and investment is needed, as well as innovation.
A decade ago, Asia’s millennials were optimistic the region would set aside conflicts and become more united to meet global challenges such as climate change. Today’s Generation Z, who grew up amid rising geopolitical tensions and major economic disruptions, are no longer so hopeful.
As Asian economies face recession worries, many are putting climate action on the back burner – but climate resilience goes hand in hand with economic stability.
