AJA Newsbites is a curated roundup of major news and developments from across Asia, brought to you by members of Asia Journalist Association (AJA)
Lee Sang-ki, THE AsiaN, Korea
Despite their different political systems, China and South Korea are confronting strikingly similar challenges: weakening manufacturing bases, capital outflows, and persistent currency depreciation. While global interest rates and geopolitical tensions are often cited as the causes, the core problem lies in internal structural distortions. Exchange rates are outcomes, not causes.
In China, market confidence has eroded as state control and ideology increasingly dominate industrial policy. Business competitiveness is now judged more by political loyalty than by innovation, prompting capital and talent to move abroad.
South Korea, meanwhile, risks undermining its hard-earned, market-driven success by expanding anti-business regulations that weaken incentives for manufacturing to remain at home. Treating capital outflows as wrongdoing and attempting to control exchange rates through administrative measures only deepen mistrust.
Exchange rates function as economic thermometers. Suppressing the numbers without addressing structural problems only worsens the condition. History shows that prolonged economic weakness inevitably translates into strategic and security vulnerabilities.
Norila Daud, Malaysia World News, Malaysia
The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) affirmed that Malaysia’s non-citizen population is projected to reach 3.38 million in 2025, with the annual growth rate declining by 0.5 percentage points compared to 2024.
The International Migration Statistics, Malaysia 2025 report released by the department on Wednesday stated that the proportion of the non-citizen population declined from 10.0% in 2024 to 9.9% in 2025. “However, 33 administrative districts recorded a non-citizen population share above the national average of 9.9% in 2025,” the department said in a statement.
This marks the first time the department has released the International Migration Statistics, Malaysia 2025 publication, in line with the United Nations’ Recommendations on Statistics of International Migration and Temporary Mobility 2025. These guidelines encourage member countries to provide integrated and continuous statistics on both the stocks and flows of international migration.
According to Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin, the publication serves as a foundation for developing a more structured and consistent international migration data system in accordance with international standards. In the initial phase of Malaysia’s international migration statistics, the focus is on migrant stock statistics, which include comprehensive data on the non-citizen population in Malaysia as well as Malaysian citizens residing abroad. “This stock data will continue to be improved through broader data coverage and enhanced methodologies to ensure accuracy, reliability, and consistency,” Uzir said.
Chhay Sophal, Cambodia News Online, Cambodia
Cambodia exported US$1.219 billion worth of tires in the first 11 months of 2025, an increase of 57.88% compared to the same period in 2024, when exports totaled US$772 million.
According to a report by Cambodia’s General Department of Customs and Excise, the increase was driven by investment incentives provided by the Cambodian government, which have encouraged tire manufacturers to invest in the country. Currently, Cambodia has three tire factories in operation: one in Svay Rieng Province, launched in 2021 on an area of 50 hectares; another in Sihanoukville Province, launched in 2022 on an area of 20 hectares; and a third in Snuol District, Kratie Province, which opened in 2024. These factories export to markets including the United States, the European Union, and Brazil under the brand name “DoubleStar.”
Cambodia’s General Department of Rubber reported that the country has a total rubber plantation area of 425,443 hectares. Of this, 330,259 hectares, or 78%, are under rubber cultivation, while 95,184 hectares, or 22%, are under maintenance.
Bob Iskandar, Indonesia Global News, Indonesia
Bank Indonesia (BI) recorded that the total amount of bank credit that has not yet been disbursed (undisbursed loans) remained high in November 2025, reaching IDR 2,500.4 trillion, or 23.18% of the available credit ceiling.
The Head of BI’s Macroprudential Policy Department, Solikin M. Juhro, assessed that this condition was driven by weak credit demand from both households and corporations. Corporations are still adopting a “wait-and-see” approach regarding the economic outlook.
In addition, companies are taking into account relatively high interest rates and are increasingly relying on internal funding. Meanwhile, households are also postponing consumer borrowing amid uncertainty about future economic conditions.
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