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The International Monetary Fund warns current conflicts will increase commodity prices and financial strain. However, ASEAN’s resilience, demonstrated throughout its history, lies in transforming shocks into opportunities for integration and growth.

By prioritizing dialogue and cooperation, ASEAN has strengthened its economic foundations, evidenced by significant GDP, trade, and investment growth.

• Current conflict will create higher commodity prices, tighter financial conditions, infrastructure damage and transport disruptions, according to the International Monetary Fund.
• The resilience of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) lies in weathering such shocks and in using them to deepen integration, widen cooperation and strengthen growth.
• And as ASEAN continues to prioritise dialogue, institution-building and restraint over escalation, energy transformation and technology will fuel its future growth.

The region is navigating geopolitical shifts and embracing energy transformation and technology, like the Digital Economy Framework Agreement, as key drivers for future prosperity. This consistent ability to adapt and deepen cooperation ensures ASEAN’s continued progress in a challenging global landscap

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Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul met ILO Director-General Gilbert F. Houngbo to discuss labor cooperation, skills development, and adapting Thai workers to evolving job market demands during the ASEAN Labor Ministers Meeting.

Key Points

• Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul welcomed ILO Director-General Gilbert F. Houngbo at Government House on Aug 28 for discussions aimed at preparing Thai workers for evolving labor market demands during Houngbo’s visit for the 29th ASEAN Labor Ministers Meeting.
• The talks focused on labor cooperation, skills development, and adapting to changes in the workforce, with both sides exploring strategies to help workers access new opportunities.
• Premier Anutin highlighted government initiatives for upskilling and reskilling Thai workers, ensuring their capabilities align with employer needs, while also addressing worker protection and alignment with international labor standards.

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul welcomed International Labor Organization (ILO) Director-General Gilbert F. Houngbo to Government House today (Aug 28) for talks on preparing Thai workers for changing labor market demands. Houngbo was visiting Thailand to attend the 29th ASEAN Labor Ministers Meeting.

The discussions involved labor cooperation, skills development, and preparations for changes in the world of work. The two sides explored ways to help workers adapt to evolving employment conditions while gaining fair access to new opportunities.

Premier Anutin discussed government efforts to expand upskilling and reskilling to help Thai workers develop capabilities that match changing employer needs in Thailand and overseas. Measures to improve worker protection and align labor development with international standards were also detailed. 

Source : Thai PM and ILO Chief Discuss Future of Thai Workforce

While 13 of the 14 present in the latest list have taken a dip in their rankings, four companies — Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Petroleum, state-run Indian Oil Corp (IOC), realty major Unitech and housing loan giant HDFC — have completely moved out of the league.

The latest FT Global 500 list was published by the UK business daily Financial Times over this weekend, is based on the companies’ market capitalisation as on March 31, 2008. The previous rankings were based on December 2007-end figures.

Reliance Industries, flagship company of India’s biggest corporate house Mukesh Ambani group, is top ranked 80th in the latest list, topped by the US energy giant ExxonMobil.

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Except for tobacco-to-consumer goods major ITC, ranked 484th, all other Indian companies have seen their rankings decline from the previous list.

Together, the market value of these 14 firms has dropped by about $ 150 billion since December last year and currently stands at about $ 440 billion.

There were 17 Indian companies in the previous list and had a total market capitalisation of about $ 590 billion.

In the country-wise ranking based on total market cap of all their companies present in the list, India has been placed 15th. The US is at the top with 169 companies worth a total $ 9.6 trillion, followed by UK, China, France and Japan.

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Other countries ranked ahead of India include Germany, Canada, Switzerland, Russia, Spain, Brazil, Hong Kong, Italy and Australia.
In terms of the number of companies present in the list, India and Russia are jointly ranked ninth after the US (169), the UK (35), Japan (39), France (31), China (25), Canada (24) and Germany (22). Among the Indian firms, RIL is followed by two state-run firms ONGC and NTPC at 148th and 206th positions respectively.

While RIL has slipped 15 positions from its 65th rank in the previous list, ONGC and NTPC have also moved down from their 115th and 163rd ranks previously.

Other Indian firms include Sunil Mittal-led telecom giant Bharti Airtel at 218th (down from 193), realty major DLF at 329th (down from 195) and Anil Ambani-led Reliance Comm at 350th position (down from 252).

However, ITC climbed six spots to the 484th place, even as its market cap fell to $ 19.38 billion from $ 20.8 billion previously.

Realty major DLF saw the steepest market value fall of $ 40.66 billion, followed by the country’s biggest private sector lender ICICI Bank with a plunge of $ 38.51 billion and Steel Authority of India ($ 35.46 billion).

RIL, the country’s most valued firm, saw its market cap falling by about $ 21 billion, dipping from about $ 105 billion to $ 82 billion in the latest list.

In the global list, ExxonMobil has replaced China’s PetroChina at the top, while US industrial conglomerate GE has retained its third position. Other firms in the top 10 include Gazprom, China Mobile, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Microsoft, AT&T, Royal Dutch Shell and P&G.