82 resultados para Singapore retail
Resumo:
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), founded in 1967, has from its onset been an outward oriented organisation. It has to be outward looking and followed events in the region and world carefully because domestic dynamics and developments are sensitive to such externalities. The member states of ASEAN are also firmly aware of the need to be embedded in the broader regional, if not global context, particularly in the economic arena. One channel that ASEAN used to achieve this was through the dialogue partnerships that it established throughout the years with the major powers and other key countries. The EU is one of ASEAN’s oldest dialogue partners. Trade and investments ties between the two regions have grown tremendously. The EU is now ASEAN’s second largest trading partner and biggest source of FDI in ASEAN, and the partnership now extends also to a whole range of political and security dialogue. Yet despite all these, ASEAN still perceived the partnership as below potential. This paper examines the current EU‐ASEAN relations and reflects on how ASEAN can step up its engagement with the EU at a time when the East Asian region has become the core region of global politics and economics, and ASEAN has to become more united and cohesive if it is to manage the increasing tensions and rising rivalry amongst the big powers in the region, in particular between the US and China.
Resumo:
The Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) launched in 1996 is into its 17th year, and has expanded from a membership of 26 to 51. ASEM membership is made up of 10 ASEAN countries, the ASEAN Secretariat, China, Japan, South Korea, Mongolia, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand and Russia on the Asian side, and the 27 EU member states, the European Commission, Norway and Switzerland on the European side. Yet, with such impressive and diverse membership accounting for around 60% of the world’s population, 50% of global GDP, and up to 60% of world trade, it remains relatively unknown in the public domain. There is also a palpable sense that not all is well as interest in ASEM (particularly among the leaders) may wane without adequate follow‐up actions, concrete deliverables and improved visibility. The challenges faced by ASEM were discussed in a recent Symposium in Yangzhou organised by the Chinese government and co‐sponsored by Laos, India, Poland and the Asia‐Europe Foundation (ASEF). Into its 17th year, ASEM remains essentially a forum for dialogue. After an initial euphoria following the launch of the inaugural summit in Bangkok in 1996, symbolising Asia’s and Europe’s commitment to step up engagement with each other, ASEM has since been plagued by the perennial questions of its lack of effectiveness, efficacy and visibility, and doubts about sustained interest by its political leaders in light of the lack of concrete deliverables. This paper drawn in part from an earlier article on The Asia‐Europe Meeting (ASEM) in the Palgrave Handbook on EU‐Asia Relations (2013), and from the discussions at the above ASEM Symposium, will begin with an examination of the on‐going debates with regards to the challenges faced by ASEM and the various suggestions to address some of these challenges. The paper will conclude with some observations on the real issues behind these debates and a prognosis on the future development of ASEM.
Resumo:
The European Union (EU) has been hailed as the most successful model of regional integration thus far, while the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), despite its fair share of critics and doomsayers, has been seen as a relatively successful regional organisation in the developing world. However, both seemed to have arrived at a critical juncture in their respective regional projects. Challenged by recent events, internal and external, and faced with increasing uncertainties and complexities, the EU and ASEAN are forced to re-examine the journey they have taken so far and ponder the road ahead. This paper seeks first to provide an overview of the two parallel processes of regionalism in Europe and Southeast Asia by focusing on the developments of the EU and ASEAN, and dissecting both the external forces and internal dynamics that shape the respective regional processes. It then sketches out some of the global trends likely to impact regional developments in Europe and Asia, and questions if the EU and ASEAN would need a new regional approach or paradigm if they are to maintain their salience and relevance as regional actors.
Resumo:
This paper posits that the Nordic countries were able to ensure good standards of equality for its citizens, while at the same time maintaining decent levels of economic growth. This can be attributed to the Nordic countries’ more holistic approach towards social spending and their focus on uplifting the skill levels of its workforce. Thus, the notion that there must be a trade-off between economic performance and a more aggressive welfare regime should be examined more thoroughly. The debate for policy makers should perhaps be framed with regard to where the balance should be between growth and equity rather than a trade-off. Firstly, the paper will elaborate on what exactly the “Nordic model” is, based on a broad literature review. Next, the paper will unpack the key characteristics of the Nordic model and analyse if indeed expansive welfare provided through state support erodes work ethic and impact the economic competitiveness of countries. Next, the paper will provide an explanation for how the balance between economic and social objectives is maintained, in some of the Nordic countries. Lastly, the paper discusses whether the same balance can be achieved in Singapore.
Resumo:
Official discourse in Singapore on social cohesion is often framed along the broad parameters of achieving racial and religious harmony. Many policies – formal and informal – and several laws evolved to manage these two aspects of society. Yet, as Singapore developed and with a much more complex socioeconomic environment both domestically and externally, there is perhaps a need to re-look the discourse and framework for discussing social cohesion. This paper takes a critical look at how the issue of social cohesion is framed in academic literature and policy discussions in Europe and the OECD, and tries to develop a broader analytical framework that could be useful in the Singapore context as it struggles with the multiple fault lines in society (beyond race and religion) that have emerged in the last decade or so.
Resumo:
Four decades of the EU's group-to-group dialogues with the Southern Mediterranean grouping of countries and with ASEAN have produced different dynamics and outcomes, despite the EU’s common strategy to use economic soft power to achieve their goals for the partnerships. Diverging conditions in the two regions created inconsistency in the EU's application of the common approach. The EU's neighbourhood security concerns forced it to relax its political stand with their Southern Mediterranean partners. For ASEAN, geographical distance dilutes the EU’s security concerns it that region and has afforded the EU to be more ideological and assertive on democracy and human rights practices. These issues have provoked disagreements in EU-ASEAN dialogues, but both sides have also tried to remain pragmatic in order to achieve some progress in the partnership. In contrast, the protracted the Arab-Israeli conflict continues to hamper the Euro-Mediterranean dialogue, resulting in little progress. Social upheavals in the Southern Mediterranean also brought their partnership to a standstill. The EU's cooperation with former authoritarian regimes like Libya and Syria have only caused damage to its credibility in the Southern Mediterranean, and future Euro-Mediterranean dialogues are likely to be affected by it.
Resumo:
Online gambling is a fast growing service activity in the world - its economic significance is clearly shown by the high level of innovation by gambling operators all over the world, as well as by the increasing amount of tax revenues generated in those States that allow this activity. Nevertheless, states face many difficulties in controlling and regulating online gambling, given the specific nature of the Internet, and the never-ending quest by gamblers for new gaming websites that offer superior odds, a wider gaming variety, and greater bets combination. In this working paper, Dr Salvatore Casabona examines the legality of online gambling in the context of the European Union (EU), and discusses the Union's regulatory approach to online gambling, the lack of harmonisation and the issue of member state sovereignty at the crossroad of European Law on online gambling, and the potential for a new regulatory paradigm to emerge.
