The World Bank has made a volte-face on industrial policy. Southeast Asian countries will need to consider the new policy, but calibrate it across vastly different national contexts.
As countries scramble to secure the minerals needed for clean energy, digital technologies, AI, and defence industries, the new era of resource competition implies both great promise and grave peril.
Vietnam’s stalled Chinese-backed solar factories underscore how Global South nations must demand technology transfer and value addition – not just capital inflows – from China’s expanding overseas clean-tech investments.
Government-backed scheme will fund low-carbon cooling and optimisation technologies as rising AI-driven electricity use raises concerns over emissions, …