The Gulf of Thailand: Next U.S.-China Flashpoint?
September 7th, 2024
Via Nikkei Asia, a look at how Beijing’s backing of Cambodian infrastructure could alter regional balance of power: While geopolitical tensions between China and the U.S. have soared in the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait, raising serious fears of war, another important body of water in the Indo-Pacific — the Gulf of Thailand — […]
Read more »Can Cooperation Solve Cambodia’s Canal Conundrum?
August 28th, 2024
Via East Asia Forum, commentary on tensions surrounding Cambodia’s Funan Techo Canal which is backed by China: Cambodia’s US$1.7 billion Funan Techo Canal, backed by China, aims to reshape regional logistics and reduce reliance on Vietnam’s maritime routes. While the Belt and Road Initiative-backed project promises enhanced connectivity, it has raised security concerns about its […]
Read more »Southeast Asia’s Old Airports Taking Off Once Again
August 21st, 2024
Via Nikkei Asia, an article on Southeast Asia’s old airports which are revving back to life: Since last year, Indonesian airline TransNusa has routinely shuttled passengers between Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur two to three times each day. But when its Airbus A320 plane touched down outside Malaysia’s commercial capital on Aug. 1, it was hailed […]
Read more »Chinese Cash Paves Way For Complicated Cambodian Development
August 17th, 2024
Via East Asia Forum, a report on Chinese investment in Cambodia: In May 2024, Cambodia acknowledged China’s significant economic and political support by renaming a major road in Phnom Penh to ‘Xi Jinping Boulevard’, highlighting Cambodia’s extensive Chinese-funded development projects such as the Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway and the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone. But concerns have […]
Read more »The Chinese Base That Isn’t There
July 15th, 2024
Courtesy of the New York Times, a look at how new port facilities and the months-long presence of Chinese warships in Cambodia show Beijing’s growing global influence: In 2020, something curious happened at Cambodia’s Ream military base, on the Gulf of Thailand. Not long after submitting — and then abruptly withdrawing — a request for […]
Read more »Japan Invests In Cambodia’s Goal of Becoming a Top Cashew Exporter
June 30th, 2024
Via Nikkei Asia, a report on Japanese investment into Cambodia’s cashew industry: A Japanese real estate developer has helped Cambodia take a big step toward becoming the world’s top cashew exporter, a goal that might not be as distant as it appears at first glance. Mirarth Holdings, in early June, commemorated the completion of a […]
Read more »Focusing primarily on The New Seven Sisters - the largely state owned petroleum companies from the emerging world that have become key players in the oil & gas industry as identified by Carola Hoyos, Chief Energy Correspondent for The Financial Times - but spanning other nascent opportunities around the globe that may hold potential in the years ahead, Wildcats & Black Sheep is a place for the adventurous to contemplate & evaluate the emerging markets of tomorrow.