There have been improvements in the Southeast Asian region as a real estate destination, but Vietnam has emerged among these markets as a prime luxury destination. According to Bloomberg, Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh District 1 has emerged as a grand real estate destination, thanks to the innovative thinking of real estate developer Novaland Group.

In January I joined Federica Mogherini, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, in Brussels as she co-chaired the 22nd EU-ASEAN Ministerial Meeting. It was an impressive occasion, and the best attended such gathering anyone could remember, with almost all the 10 ASEAN and 28 EU member states represented by their foreign ministers. Brussels was preparing for its first big snowfall of the winter, but the reception we gave our ASEAN partners was a truly warm one.

Non-wood furniture exports on the rise

In three cavernous former Royal Air Force hangars at an old airbase in Wales, luxury carmaker Aston Martin is forging ahead with construction of a new vehicle assembly plant.

Trade tensions between the U.S. and China are adding rocket fuel to the liftoff of Southeast Asia's economies. American tariffs on Chinese-made goods have sped the shift of contract manufacturing to ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries, such as Vietnam and Thailand. The increase in foreign direct investment into the 10-nation regional trading bloc has been underway for a number of years, however, the trade war continues to drive even more capital into the region. Nikkei just published an article this month titled: “Southeast Asia bucks trend of sinking global foreign investment”.

A Government decree that sought to remove difficulties and legal barriers for rice businesses to boost their exports, which took effect last October, has not impacted rice exports as much as expected, according to exporters.

Economists at a forum on Vietnam’s economic integration in December last year all agreed that Vietnam needs to prepare for the rising economic and political influence of China.

The United States and China have started to outline commitments in principle on the stickiest issues in their trade dispute, marking the most significant progress yet toward ending a seven-month trade war, according to sources familiar with the negotiations.

The latest trade agreements between Singapore and European Union could help boost the city-state’s slowing base chemical and plastic shipments to the trade bloc, but competition from other regions would put a lid to polymer imports from the southeast Asian nation.

The United States should respect China’s right to develop and become prosperous, the Chinese government’s top diplomat told a visiting U.S. delegation, reiterating that the country’s doors to the outside world would open wider.