The Rise of Durian Diplomacy
October 18th, 2025
Via Foreign Policy, a report on how – in Asia – soft power rests on a divisive, spiky fruit: The fruit’s scent announces its presence long before it comes into view. The aroma snakes down the lorongs, past the coffee houses and xian bing stalls of Kuala Lumpur’s Chinatown, ending at the gloved hand of the local […]
Read more »Mexico, Malaysia, and India Want to be the Next Big Semiconductor Hubs
August 12th, 2025
Via Rest of World, an article on how manufacturing powerhouses Mexico, Malaysia, and India want to become less reliant on expensive imports — without competing with Nvidia or TSMC: Mexico, Malaysia, and India are ramping up their semiconductor manufacturing capabilities. One of the goals is to make legacy chips, which can be used in electronics […]
Read more »Malaysian EV Brands Gain Speed On China’s BYD
March 13th, 2025
Via Nikkei Asia, an article on Malaysian EV brands plans to give China’s BYD a run for its money: Malaysian electric vehicles are gaining ground in their home market as local carmakers Proton Holdings and Perodua challenge top-seller BYD and Tesla with more affordable models. Proton said last week that sales of the e.MAS 7 […]
Read more »ASEAN’s Tiger Economies Have Lost Their Roar
February 15th, 2025
Via Nikkei Asia, a look at how – with diverse national circumstances – Southeast Asia remains less than the sum of its parts: In the bubble years of the late 1980s, the appreciation of the Japanese yen sent a flood of investment from corporate Japan to the fast-growing economies of Southeast Asia. Matsushita, as Panasonic […]
Read more »Big Tech Will Scour the Globe in Its Search for Cheap Energy
December 16th, 2024
Via Wired, a report on the global search for inexpensive energy to power our AI-enabled future: On the southern tip of Malaysia lies the state of Johor, renowned for its beaches and mountainous jungle. But Johor has a new boom industry: data centers to power generative AI, with Microsoft committing more than $2 billion on just such a […]
Read more »World Fears a Wider Trade War. Malaysia Sees an Opportunity.
November 15th, 2024
Via the New York Times, a report on how – with Donald J. Trump promising tariffs – Malaysia hopes a deal with Singapore for greater economic integration will strengthen its role as a China alternative: During his first term as president, when Donald J. Trump started a tariff war to pit the United States against […]
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.