As the Philippines continues its efforts to combat African Swine Fever (ASF) through strict import protocols and domestic containment measures, importers increasingly prioritize consistency, origin transparency, and certified food safety—areas where Belgian suppliers excel.
Belgium may be a small country, but it’s a major player in the pork industry—it’s one of the top 10 pork exporters in the world.
In 2024, Belgium exported 690,628 tons to over 70 countries worldwide, including the Philippines, where the demand for safe, traceable, and premium pork remains strong amid ongoing supply and disease control challenges.
Efficiency and flexibility
Efficiency is Belgium’s competitive advantage, states Luc Verspreet, the former president of FEBEV (the Belgian meat federation). “Belgium has the best cost-per-kilo ratio in Europe. Thanks to our efficient production system, we are well-equipped for the future. In 20 years, the sector may be smaller, but it will still be present, both as a producer and as an exporter.”
For Joris Coenen, manager of the Belgian Meat Office (BMO), Belgian pork suppliers’ ways of working and attitude make a huge difference. “Belgian meat suppliers offer a tailored service worldwide. With a deep understanding of each customer’s specific needs, these suppliers develop strong and sustainable collaborations with reliable partners. They also manage customized, flexible, efficient solutions that are fully aligned with the customer’s business.”
Gerard Van Landschoot, current president of FEBEV, adds, “Our greatest strength has always been flexibility. Reinventing ourselves, anticipating change, staying ahead of the curve: this is our history, past and future.”
Tradition and innovation
Belgian family businesses remain rooted in craftsmanship and continuity, while facing growing pressure from consumers, regulators, and global competitors to evolve.
The future of Belgian meat depends on a balance of both: preserving traditional skills while integrating cutting-edge technologies into a forward-thinking and sustainable business model. This dualism pays off and leads to a unique product.
State-of-the-art pork meat
The efforts of the Belgian meat suppliers result in a tasty, safe, and authentic product, with guaranteed traceability and certified quality—something BMO and the meat suppliers are particularly proud of.
This commitment to food safety and transparency aligns with the priorities of Filipino consumers and food businesses, especially in light of the increased scrutiny of imported meat products. Belgian exporters strictly comply with European Union regulations, offering the Philippines a stable and trustworthy supply partner.
Meet the Belgian meat suppliers at FHA 2026
BMO will attend Food & Hospitality Asia 2026 in Singapore from April 21 to 24, 2026. BMO and the participating Belgian pork suppliers look forward to welcoming food industry professionals at Stand 9G2-07.
Apple has revised its developer license agreement to allow the company to recoup unpaid commissions and other fees from in-app purchases processed on developers’ behalf.
The change affects developers in regions that permit external payment systems, requiring them to report such transactions so Apple can claim its share.
The update gives Apple the right to “offset or recoup” amounts it believes are owed, including funds collected from end-users, at any time.
Developers could face deductions from digital goods, services, subscriptions, or one-time app fees if Apple determines earnings have been underreported. The agreement does not clarify how these determinations will be made.
This move has implications for markets including the EU, U.S., and Japan, where the legality and rate of commissions on externally processed payments vary.
In the U.S., courts are still weighing Apple’s ability to collect partial commissions, following a federal appeals ruling that instructed a lower court to consider allowing some collection but not the full 27% fee previously charged.
The update also addresses region-specific charges, such as the EU’s Core Technology Fee (CTF), which will transition in January 2026 to a more complex, percentage-based Core Technology Commission (CTC) applicable to apps using external payments or distributed under alternative business terms.
Apple can also collect unpaid amounts from affiliates, parent companies, or subsidiaries tied to the same account, broadening its enforcement reach across developer portfolios.
Additional changes cover age assurance technology, new iOS app terms in Japan, and rules for voice-activated assistants, including restrictions on recordings made without user awareness.
Apple clarified that applications may not be designed to facilitate such recordings but has not defined enforcement methods.
The revisions underscore Apple’s focus on maintaining revenue capture amid evolving regulatory scrutiny and external payment alternatives, raising compliance and financial reporting considerations for developers operating in multiple jurisdictions.
Homegrown fashion giant Penshoppe is ushering in a new era of comfort and connection with its latest campaign, “Cozy Days Ahead.” https://t.co/58q4DJoY1w
ABB has powered VITRO Santa Rosa, the Philippines’ largest and most advanced data center, with a complete electrification solution, enabling the country’s first AI-ready hyperscale data center.
Located in Laguna, just south of Metro Manila, the 50MW site is setting new benchmarks for AI readiness, reliability and sustainability as the Philippines emerges as one of the world’s fastest-growing data center markets.
With demand for AI infrastructure, cloud and streaming services accelerating across Southeast Asia, the facility has been designed to meet TIA Rated-3 Certification and Rated-4 readiness standards, ensuring high availability and reliability for mission critical workloads.
The data center integrates at least three independent fiber routes to ensure network diversity, resilience, and carrier neutrality, while also embedding sustainability across its supply chain, operations, and design, in line with LEED certification standards.
In collaboration with Distribution & Control Products, Inc. (DCPI), ABB has delivered a complete medium- and low-voltage electrification solution, including ZX2 and SafePlus gas-insulated switchgear, Tmax XT, and Emax 2 circuit breakers, protection devices and M4M analyzers, to provide continuous uptime and energy efficiency.
The integrated design ensures compliance with Philippine market requirements and gives VITRO Santa Rosa the flexibility to scale as AI workloads grow and demand for digital services accelerates.
“Delivering the world’s most advanced data centers takes global expertise and strong local partnerships,” said Christine Macadamia Penequito, Marketing & Sales Director, Electrification Smart Buildings & Smart Power, ABB Philippines.
“High performance starts with reliability – smart solutions that ensure critical power is always available. Partnering with DCPI to support the Philippines’ first AI-ready hyperscale data center, we are powering the future of digital infrastructure.”
Vincent Tiamsic, President of DCPI, added “Working closely with ABB early in the planning stage, we were able to tailor an advanced, compliant solution, fully aligned with VITRO’s requirements.
By combining with our deep local technical expertise, we’ve helped deliver a landmark facility that strengthens the Philippines’ role in Southeast Asia’s fast-growing data center sector and supports the country’s own digital development.”
Victor Genuino, President and CEO, VITRO Santa Rosa, said: “VITRO Santa Rosa marks a significant leap in the country’s digital transformation and AI adoption. Through our partnerships with ABB and DCPI, we’re able to scale faster and deliver world-class infrastructure built for businesses in the age of AI.”
ZTE Corporation, a global provider of information and communication technology solutions, has recently announced that it earned RMB 60.70 billion in revenue for the first half of 2023, which is a 1.5% increase compared to the same period last year.
Finding the right Christmas gift can be tricky, especially for car owners who seem to already have everything they need. But here’s the good news: the perfect present doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive. Sometimes, it’s the thoughtful, practical gifts that show the most care.
This year, surprise the car enthusiasts and everyday drivers in your life with gifts that fit them and their cars perfectly.
As you start your holiday gift shopping for your car-owner loved ones, Prestone®, the #1 Brake Fluid and #1 Coolant in the Philippines, shares the ultimate gift guide filled with siguradong compatible ideas that combine usefulness, care, and a touch of holiday cheer.
Car accessories that add style and function
For car owners, the best gifts often combine style and practicality. Consider accessories that make every drive more comfortable and enjoyable, like seat organizers, magnetic phone mounts, dashboard cameras, or portable vacuum cleaners. You can also add advanced tech finds like CarPlay for fun and entertainment and portable car power station for emergencies.
These small additions can instantly upgrade any ride, while showing that you pay attention to what makes their daily drives smoother. It’s a thoughtful way to say, “I want your trips to be safe and hassle-free.”
Car maintenance or fuel vouchers for convenience
When in doubt, give them something that takes care of their next car maintenance service. A voucher for car washing, oil change, or even a fuel gift card is always appreciated, especially for those who spend hours on the road.
It’s a gift that’s not only practical but also kind because these vouchers will save them time, effort, and unexpected expenses. Think of it as helping them tick off a task in their car preventive maintenance checklist while making life a bit easier during the busy holiday rush.
DIY car care kit for everyday upkeep
For hands-on car lovers, a personalized car care kit makes an excellent present. Put together essentials like microfiber towels, tire inflator, cleaning sprays, wax, and an emergency kit.
Not only is it useful, but it also encourages proper car maintenance, which is something every driver should prioritize. You can even pack it in a reusable storage bin or bag for that extra thoughtful touch.
Siguradong compatible coolant for the gift of protection
If you want to give something that truly stands out, you can give the gift of protection. Prestone Asian Coolant, the #1 coolant trusted by Filipino drivers, is more than just a car essential; it’s a symbol of care and reliability.
Engineered with 5X Superior Cooling Action and Cor-Guard™ Technology, Prestone Asian Coolant protects engines from overheating, rust, and corrosion.
The Prestone Asian Coolant 1L is available in RED/PINK, BLUE, and GREEN color variants.
RED/PINK COOLANT: For all Toyota®, Lexus®, and Scion® vehicles, all years
BLUE COOLANT: For all Honda®, Nissan®, Subaru® vehicles, pre-2009 to 2011 & Newer
GREEN COOLANT: For all Isuzu®, Suzuki®, Hyundai®, KIA®, Mazda® Mitsubishi® vehicles, pre-2009 to 2011 & Newer
It’s the kind of coolant for car that gives lasting value which is a practical, thoughtful, and safety-centered gift any car owner would appreciate.
Make your gifts merry and thoughtful
Gifts that are siguradong compatible go beyond trends, they show love, thoughtfulness, and care that lasts all year long. Whether it’s accessories that make every ride more stylish, vouchers that make car maintenance easier, or coolants that protect the engine, the best presents are those that perfectly fit your loved one’s lifestyle.
This Christmas, give the gift that says, “I care about you and your car.”
Both Prestone products are available at leading automotive stores and retail outlets nationwide, including True Value, Handyman, Ace Hardware, Blade, and online through the official stores on Lazada,Shopee and TikTok Shop. Prestone also urges customers to purchase only from authorized retailers to ensure product authenticity and vehicle safety.
To learn more about Prestone’s full range of products and car preventive maintenance tips, visit www.prestone.com.ph
This Christmas season, Philips Lighting brings brighter homes within closer reach of Filipino families with a nationwide price markdown of up to 50% across selected LED lighting products.
More than a seasonal offer, this initiative represents a long-term commitment to making trusted, energy-efficient lighting more affordable for households across the Philippines.
As families prepare their homes for festive gatherings, shared meals, and everyday moments, Philips Lighting aims to support Filipinos in creating spaces that feel warmer, safer, and more welcoming without compromising on quality or performance.
“Christmas is about family, comfort, and the joy of coming home,” said Paolo Royol, Commercial Leader for Consumer Business, Philips Lighting Philippines. “By lowering our prices nationwide, we want more Filipino families to enjoy brighter homes that support their daily lives, not just during the holidays, but well beyond them. This is our way of making quality lighting more accessible and meaningful for everyone.”
Nationwide Price Markdown Highlights
Filipino consumers can now enjoy reduced prices on the following Philips Lighting products nationwide:
High Lumen Bulbs – up to 54% off
Essential Bulbs Mini – up to 13% off
Essential LED Bulb A-Shape – up to 28% off
Ecofit TLED (Single Ended) – up to 33% off
Ecofit TLED (Double Ended) – up to 33% off
Designed for energy efficiency and long-lasting performance, these products help families reduce energy consumption while enjoying dependable brightness across living spaces, kitchens, work areas, and shared family zones.
Lighting Homes, Supporting Filipino Dreams
This nationwide price markdown reflects Philips Lighting’s enduring commitment to Filipino households, helping turn everyday spaces into brighter homes where memories are made and dreams grow.
As Christmas lights fill homes and communities across the country, Philips Lighting continues to deliver on its promise: to bring light that cares, inspires, and lasts, now made more affordable for Filipino families nationwide.
ZTE Corporation, a global provider of information and communication technology solutions, has recently announced that it earned RMB 60.70 billion in revenue for the first half of 2023, which is a 1.5% increase compared to the same period last year.
Edge data centers are reshaping connectivity in Southeast Asia by shifting computing power closer to users, directly addressing chronic latency, uneven infrastructure, and rising data demand that centralized regional hubs can no longer absorb efficiently.
The pressure is structural. Southeast Asia’s internet economy generated about $218 billion in gross merchandise value in 2023 and is projected to surpass $300 billion by 2030, as outlined in the Google, Temasek, and Bain e-Conomy SEA reports, driving exponential growth in latency-sensitive traffic from e-commerce, streaming, payments, and cloud services.
Historically, much of this traffic has been routed to hyperscale data centers in Singapore or Hong Kong. Network performance data published by Akamai shows this architecture can add 30 to 80 milliseconds of latency for users in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam, with delays widening sharply outside capital cities.
AI isn’t just hype—it’s reshaping data centers with predictive maintenance, smarter cooling, and major cost savings.
Michael Alexander, MD of Tangible Digital, tells me it’s a quiet revolution making operations greener and more profitable.#AI#DataCenters#Sustainability
Edge data centers change this equation by localizing compute, storage, and caching within national or metro-level facilities. Performance measurements disclosed by Akamai and Google Cloud show latency reductions of roughly 30 to 50 percent when workloads are served from in-country edge locations instead of regional hubs.
This impact is most visible in consumer services. Regional content delivery operators report buffering reductions of about 20 to 30 percent during peak hours once video is cached locally, improving completion rates in mobile-first markets where users quickly abandon slow streams.
Gaming provides a clear performance threshold. GSMA technical standards indicate competitive multiplayer gaming requires latency below 50 milliseconds. Measurements published by Indonesia Internet Exchange and PHOpenIX show that edge-enabled routing has reduced average latency in secondary cities from above 80 milliseconds to under 40 milliseconds.
Financial services add another layer of urgency. Southeast Asia processes billions of real-time transactions each year through systems such as BI-FAST in Indonesia and InstaPay in the Philippines. McKinsey digital payments benchmarks show that local edge processing shortens transaction completion times by 15 to 25 percent and reduces timeout-related failures.
Irina Maltseva, Growth lead at @Aura_Protects , a company helping families safeguard themselves against identity theft, scams, and online threats, paints a sobering picture of how digital threats are evolving and what organizations can do to stay ahead.https://t.co/Samtsikfes
Enterprise demand follows the same logic. World Economic Forum case studies on manufacturing and port automation show performance degradation once latency exceeds 20 milliseconds, making centralized cloud architectures unsuitable for real-time analytics, robotics, and predictive maintenance.
These use cases align with telecom strategy. GSMA Intelligence research notes that many commercial 5G applications, including private enterprise networks and augmented reality training, target end-to-end latency below 10 milliseconds, achievable only with localized edge compute.
Economically, edge infrastructure reduces reliance on international backhaul and submarine cable capacity. Regulatory filings from operators in Indonesia and the Philippines show offshore routing remains a material cost driver when domestic traffic is processed abroad.
Regulation reinforces the shift. Indonesia’s Personal Data Protection Law and Vietnam’s cybersecurity regulations require sensitive data to be stored and processed domestically, turning local edge capacity into a compliance requirement rather than a performance upgrade.
The constraint is capital. Research from Arizton and Structure Research projects double-digit annual growth in Southeast Asia’s edge data center capacity through 2030, requiring dense deployment of power, cooling, and fiber in secondary cities with uneven infrastructure.
Taken together, edge data centers are evolving from optimization tools into core infrastructure, narrowing performance gaps, lowering network costs, and redefining how connectivity scales across Southeast Asia’s digital economy.
ChatGPT has surpassed $3 billion in global consumer spending on mobile, according to estimates from app intelligence provider Appfigures, marking a major milestone since the app’s launch on iOS in May 2023.
Analysts say this rapid growth highlights the accelerating adoption of AI-powered applications among everyday users.
The majority of spending occurred in 2025, with consumers estimated to have spent $2.48 billion on ChatGPT mobile this year, a 408% increase from the $487 million spent in 2024.
In its first year of availability, the app earned $42.9 million, before surging more than tenfold to reach the 2024 total.
Appfigures emphasized that ChatGPT reached the $3 billion milestone in just 31 months, faster than TikTok, which took 58 months, and ahead of streaming apps like Disney+ and HBO Max, which reached the same figure in 42 and 46 months respectively.
Industry experts note that ChatGPT’s spending trajectory reflects broader trends in AI adoption, with users increasingly paying for premium services. ChatGPT mobile offers paid subscriptions such as ChatGPT Plus at $20 per month and ChatGPT Pro at $200 per month for advanced users.
Analysts point out that while these subscriptions are a major revenue source, AI apps have additional monetization pathways, including developer offerings and potential advertising. ChatGPT recently launched its own app store, which company representatives have indicated may generate revenue in the future.
Comparisons with other AI platforms show similar trends. xAI’s Grok, launched in late 2023 for X Premium Plus subscribers and broadly available in 2024, has seen a spending trajectory close to ChatGPT’s early growth, while Anthropic is focusing on enterprise customers and is projected to reach $70 billion in revenue by 2028.
Google is exploring the integration of AI into its advertising model, including placing ads in AI Mode, AI Overviews, AI shopping, and AI-powered Discover. Analysts suggest these developments indicate a rapidly evolving market where AI apps are emerging as significant revenue drivers across both consumer and enterprise sectors.
The ChatGPT milestone underscores the increasing willingness of users to pay for AI-enhanced tools and signals continued competition among AI platforms to capture consumer attention and spending.
Homegrown fashion giant Penshoppe is ushering in a new era of comfort and connection with its latest campaign, “Cozy Days Ahead.” https://t.co/58q4DJoY1w
This landmark collaboration is set to significantly boost financial support for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), driving economic growth and job creation in key local communities across the Philippines.
Homegrown fashion giant Penshoppe is ushering in a new era of comfort and connection with its latest campaign, “Cozy Days Ahead.” https://t.co/58q4DJoY1w
The new loan facility leverages the combined strengths of one of the country’s biggest and most respected financial institutions, PNB, and the agile, specialized financing capabilities of DCFC.
For many SMEs, access in capital remains the biggest hurdle totheir expansion, especially if they lack collateral or a long credit history. This partnership aims to bridge that gap.
The loan facility is designed to provide DCFC with additional funding capacity, which it will use to extend flexible and more accessible financing solutions to its growing base of SME clients.
This move aligns with PNB’s sustained commitment to the SME sector, often referred to as the backbone of the Philippine economy.
“Our agreement with PNB is a clear signal of Discovery Capital Finance Corp.’s commitment to financial inclusion for the underserved business community,” according to Pres. Diosdado Chua Salang, Jr.
“By partnering with institutions like PNB, we can effectively amplify our reach beyond our branches, ensuring that crucial capital flows into regional economies where it is needed most.”
Key Impact on Small and Medium Enterprises
The PNB-DCFC loan facility is expected to have several immediate benefits for SMEs:
Expanded Reach: DCFC’s specialized knowledge and localized presence, combined with PNB’s financial muscle, will make SME loans more available to businesses in provinces and inareas outside major metropolitan hubs.
Flexible Working Capital: The funding will be primarily utilized for working capital loans, helping SMEs finance inventory, fulfill large contracts, purchase new equipment, and manage their cash flow more effectively.
Accelerated Growth: By providing capital, the partnership empowers small businesses to execute their expansion plans, which in turn leads to increased production, more employment opportunities, and greater contribution to the local tax base.
Addressing the Funding Gap
In the Philippines, the SME sector accounts for over 99% of all registered businesses but often receives a disproportionately small share of formal bank lending. Initiatives like the PNB-DCFC facility are vital to correcting this imbalance.
This collaboration reflects a growing trend where major banks partner with non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) and finance companies to penetrate niche markets and to improve overall market efficiency. For DCFC, the PNB facility serves as a stamp of confidence, lowering its cost of funds and enabling it to offer more competitive rates to its borrowers.
The successful signing of the loan facility marks a significant step toward creating a more financially inclusive landscape for Filipino entrepreneurs and their businesses.
Vivien Lin, Chief Product Officer at @BingXOfficial, explains that this transition is driven by regulatory clarity, growing institutional participation, and the adoption of blockchain infrastructure by financial institutions.https://t.co/9g5IW9X1VA
Sophos, a global leader of innovative security solutions for defeating cyberattacks, has launched Sophos Firewall v22.
The update enhances Sophos’ Secure by Design pledge with a brand-new Health Check feature and several other security enhancements:
• Health Check – Sophos Firewall OS v22 checks dozens of different configuration settings and compares them with CIS benchmarks (Center for Internet Security) and other best practices, providing immediate insights into areas that may be at risk.
• Hardened kernel – The next-gen Xstream Architecture in Sophos Firewall OS is built upon a new hardened kernel (v6.6+) that provides enhanced security, performance, and scalability to maximize current and future hardware.
• Remote integrity monitoring – Sophos Firewall OS v22 now integrates Sophos XDR Linux Sensor that enables real-time monitoring of system integrity, including unauthorized configuration, rule exports, malicious program execution attempts, file tampering, and more.
• Improved workload isolation – With Sophos’ next-gen Xstream Architecture, SFOS v22 introduces an all-new control plane re-architected for increased defense-in-depth and scalability. The new control plane enables modularization, isolation, and containerization of services.
• Enhanced anti-malware engine – Sophos Firewall OS v22 integrates the latest Sophos anti-malware engine with enhanced zero-day, real-time detection of emerging threats using global reputation lookups.
“Over the last several releases, we have continued to invest in implementing Secure by Design principles into all our products, including Sophos Firewall”, said Sophos CISO Ross McKerchar.
As with every firewall release, Sophos Firewall v22 is a free upgrade for Sophos Firewall customers with Enhanced or Enhanced Plus Support and should be applied to all supported firewall devices as soon as possible.
Additional details can also be found in this Sophos blog article. For more information about Sophos products and services go to https://www.sophos.com.
Homegrown fashion giant Penshoppe is ushering in a new era of comfort and connection with its latest campaign, “Cozy Days Ahead.” https://t.co/58q4DJoY1w
ING has released its Asia Outlook 2026 and Commodities Outlook 2026 reports, outlining how Asia’s 2025 growth surprise, driven by exports and tech investment, is set to moderate next year as global demand and trade volumes soften.
Even so, the report sees “pockets of opportunity” in Asian bond and FX markets as inflation remains benign with anticipated rate cuts, a weaker US dollar, and a generally soft energy and food price backdrop.
External demand outperforms, domestic demand lags
Asia’s 2025 expansion was driven overwhelmingly by external demand and technology rather than domestic spending. Tech-exporting economies like Taiwan and Singapore far exceeded forecasts, while the Philippines joined other domestically-driveneconomies like India in underperforming expectations.
Despite muted inflation throughout the year, household consumption across the Philippines remained weak, reflected in softening retail sales growth and moderating wage increases amid rising labor force participation.
Within trade, AI‑related goods were the standout driver of global trade in the first half of 2025, with trade in this category surging by more than 20% year‑on‑year and Asia accounting for nearly two‑thirds of that growth.
In contrast, non‑AI goods trade rose less than 4%, underscoring subdued investment outside tech and the drag from Chinese overcapacity on Southeast Asian manufacturing and capital spending.
“Asia’s 2025 story was all about exports and technology doing the heavy lifting while consumers stayed cautious,” said Deepali Bhargava, ING’s chief economist and regional head of Research for Asia‑Pacific (APAC).
Philippines: Exports resilient but domestic headwinds weigh on growth
Recent US tariff adjustments provide some near-term relief for the Philippines: the rollback of tariffs on roughly 200 food items supports Philippine agricultural exporters.
However, broader US tariffs—at around 19% for a large share of Philippine goods—are still expected to weigh on 2026 trade performance.
Domestically, several factors contributed to softer momentum in 2025. Governance-related investigations have dampened business sentiment, while public infrastructure spending slowed in the third quarter.
These short-term headwinds added to structural challenges: the software/BPO sector—traditionally a growth engine—remains heavily concentrated in voice-based services vulnerable to AI-driven automation, and the country has lagged peers in attracting manufacturing FDI despite regional supply-chain diversification.
ING notes that while the slowdown in government spending may drag on near-term growth, the administration’s strong anti-corruption stance is a longer-term positive.
Improved governance typically supports investor confidence and strengthens the environment for capital spending.
“As long as confidence returns and public investment picks up later, these efforts should ultimately support a more sustainable growth path,” Deepali noted.
Homegrown fashion giant Penshoppe is ushering in a new era of comfort and connection with its latest campaign, “Cozy Days Ahead.” https://t.co/58q4DJoY1w
Inflation across Asia fell sharply in 2025, largely due to a substantial easing in food prices, and is expected to rise only modestly from cyclical lows in 2026.
Inflation should remain within central bank targets in 2026, allowing rate-cutting cycles to continue in India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwan and China, and supporting a generally easier monetary stance across the region.
However, ING cautions that if inflation were to undershoot expectations, real interest rates could rise again, creating a more challenging environment for both business investment and consumer demand.
“In 2026, growth will no longer be flattered by the same surge in trade and tech, but lower inflation, targeted fiscal support and a friendlier FX backdrop mean investors can still find pockets of value,” Deepali said.
Reinforcing this picture, ING’s newly published Commodities Outlook 2026 highlights that the global oil market is set to move into a sizeable surplus next year as OPEC+ rapidly brings supply back, with Brent crude forecast to average around USD 57 a barrel in 2026.
Grain prices have also likely found a floor after record harvests and more comfortable stock levels, with only a gradual tightening expected later in the outlook period. Taken together, these projections point to a relatively benign commodity backdrop for 2026.
“What’s been remarkable this year is how little oil prices have reacted to very real geopolitical shocks,” said Warren Patterson, ING’s head of Commodities Strategy for APAC. “With inventories rising and OPEC+ restoring supply, we see the market moving into a comfortable surplus next year and Brent averaging about USD 57.”
Tariffs, supply chains, and sector winners
Recent US tariff negotiations have narrowed the tariff gap between China and the rest of Asia, reducing simple “tariff arbitrage” advantages but not reversing deeper supply‑chain shifts.
Asia and Europe are drawing closer through possibly new trade agreements with India and Indonesia, with plans to extend deals to the Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia by 2027, supporting cooperation in manufacturing, green infrastructure and digital connectivity.
Sector‑specific changes are tilting gains toward agricultural exporters in India and Indonesia, which benefit from lower US food tariffs, and to India and Singapore in pharmaceuticals, helped by India’s generics strength and Singapore’s diversified, high‑value export base.
Technology exports remain the biggest winners, with AI‑related demand and advanced computing infrastructure supporting a constructive outlook even as front‑loaded shipments fade.
ASEAN’s role as a global production hub is deepening. The region now handles over 20% of global semiconductor assembly, testing and packaging and around 22% of global auto parts exports, backed by around USD 12 billion a year of greenfield semiconductor investment and rising EV‑related inflows.
Sectors less exposed to agriculture, pharma or high‑end tech are expected to see fewer direct tariff gains and continue to face weaker global demand. ING also highlights strong growth in Asia’s commercial services trade, particularly in digital and IT services, as another area where the region is gaining share even as goods trade slows.
“Tariff truces do not mean business as usual,” Deepali added. “Supply‑chain security, sector‑specific tariffs and Europe‑Asia trade agreements are reshaping where production and capital go and that will be critical for investors looking beyond headline growth.Diversification started well before the latest tariff round, and the ‘China plus one’ strategy remains firmly in place.”
Country highlights
● China: Growth is expected to moderate to around 4.6% in 2026 from roughly 5% in 2025 amid property‑sector weakness and lingering deflation pressures.
● Japan: The “Sanaenomics” agenda, combining sizeable fiscal stimulus and solid wage gains and the Bank of Japan’s measured policy normalisation, is expected to support a stronger 2026.
● South Korea: GDP growth is forecast to accelerate to 2.0% from 1.2%, driven by a robust semiconductor cycle and fiscal support.
● India: ING assigns 70% probability to a US trade deal in 2026 and expects at least 25bp RBI rate cut to support rupee and local markets.
FX and bond market implications
The report highlights a constructive view on Indian and Korean local-currency bonds, citing robust fiscal discipline in India and an index inclusion for Korea in major global bond indices.
Real policy rates have come off their peaks but remain broadly supportive, and recent foreign inflows into local bond markets point to renewed investor interest in Asia.
On currencies, CNY and KRW are best positioned among low-yielders to benefit from an anticipated US dollar weakness in 2026.
Among high-yielders, the INR stands out as the most compelling upside potential if trade dynamics improve, while the IDR and PHP are seen as more vulnerable given narrowing rate differentials and local structural weaknesses.
Vivien Lin, Chief Product Officer at @BingXOfficial, explains that this transition is driven by regulatory clarity, growing institutional participation, and the adoption of blockchain infrastructure by financial institutions.https://t.co/9g5IW9X1VA
