Despite internal conflicts and regional tensions in 2025, ASEAN demonstrated remarkable cohesion. Timor Leste’s accession marked its expansion to 11 members, symbolizing partnership and mutual support. The bloc also achieved a substantive agreement on the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA), aiming to harmonize digital trade rules and accelerate digital transformation.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) offers a compelling model for global cooperation, demonstrating remarkable cohesion and progress despite internal conflicts and regional tensions throughout 2025. The bloc advanced its core mission by achieving two significant milestones: expanding to 11 members with Timor Leste’s accession and reaching a substantive agreement on the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA). These achievements underscore ASEAN’s ability to foster strong partnerships and drive substantive progress amidst diverse socio-economic and political landscapes, serving as a vital example in an era of complex global challenges.

Timor Leste’s accession in October 2025, after 14 years and overcoming historical animosities with nations like Indonesia, epitomizes the power of partnership. This expansion reinforces ASEAN’s commitment to “one vision, one identity, and one community,” offering the young nation regional solidarity, economic development through enhanced market access, security, and strengthened sovereignty. In return, Timor Leste’s membership bolsters ASEAN’s integrity, democratic standing, political inclusivity, and potentially offers new market access and strategic leverage due to its location between the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

Another pivotal development is the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA), due to be signed this year as the world’s first region-wide digital economy governance agreement. DEFA aims to accelerate digital transformation by establishing an open, secure, and interoperable digital economy. Its key features include:

• Harmonizing digital trade rules and supporting cross-border data flow.
• Establishing coherent regulations in areas such as e-commerce and digital payments.
• Creating a comprehensive, frequently updated data regulation repository to boost transparency and reduce compliance costs for businesses, particularly benefitting micro-, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).
• Addressing data security and privacy concerns, with the proposed ASEAN Data Governance Hub as a key mechanism for digital integration. The agreement is notable for its phased approach, accommodating diverse economic and legal development levels among members without settling for the lowest common denominator, with developed economies leading the way. Forecasts suggest DEFA could contribute to a regional digital economy reaching $1 trillion by 2030, potentially doubling upon full implementation.

ASEAN’s continued functionality as a cohesive economic and political bloc for nearly 60 years, despite its vast internal differences in culture, political models, and socio-economic indicators, provides valuable insights for global cooperation. Its achievements in 2025, particularly the DEFA being cited as an example of “coalitions of smaller economies” and its ability to combine goals like decarbonization with energy security, align with findings from the Global Cooperation Barometer indicating evolving forms of cooperation. Ultimately, ASEAN’s model demonstrates that even with significant collective differences, a commitment to a collective approach and strong partnerships can yield far-reaching and substantive progress, offering a blueprint for addressing shared global challenges.

While challenges like the Myanmar conflict and border disputes persisted, ASEAN’s focus on its core mission and collaborative approach, exemplified by DEFA and Timor Leste’s integration, underscored its continued progress and commitment to regional unity and economic advancement.

Despite internal conflicts and regional tensions in 2025, the Association for Souteast Asian Nations (ASEAN) stayed cohesive and advanced its core mission.

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Societe Generale GLE -2.21%decrease; red down pointing triangle raised its profitability target for this year, projecting higher revenue and lower costs, after reporting a stronger net profit for the fourth quarter.

The French bank said Friday that it expects a return on tangible equity—a key profitability metric for banks—of more than 10% this year, up from a previous target range of 9% to 10%.

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Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have no stock, option or similar derivative position in any of the companies mentioned, and no plans to initiate any such positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Seeking Alpha’s Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.

India’s largest public sector lender State Bank of India (SBI) on Saturday reported 24% year-on-year (YoY) growth in its standalone net profit at Rs 21,028 crore in the third quarter. Net interest income for the same period increased 9% YoY to Rs 45,190 crore.

The company’s operating profit (before provisions and contingencies) grew 40% YoY to Rs 32,862 crore.

The profit reported during the quarter was highest-ever for the bank, which came on the back of healthy loan growth.

The lender’s net interest margin stood at 2.99% in Q3FY26, while domestic NIM came in at 3.12%. For the nine months ended December 2025, domestic NIM was 3.08%.

Asset quality continued to improve, with the gross NPA ratio declining to 1.57%, down 50 basis points YoY. Net NPA ratio improved to 0.39%, lower by 14 basis points.

Provision coverage ratio, including AUCA, stood at 92.37%, while PCR excluding AUCA was 75.54%. Slippage ratio for the quarter remained contained at 0.40%, and credit cost stood at 0.29%.
On the balance sheet front, SBI’s total business crossed Rs 103 lakh crore, with deposits exceeding Rs 57 lakh crore and advances crossing Rs 46 lakh crore. The bank’s advances grew 15% YoY, led by domestic advances growth of 15%. Retail advances rose 16%, with all sub-segments reporting double-digit growth. SME advances expanded sharply by 21%, while agricultural advances grew 16% and retail personal loans increased 15%. Corporate advances also recorded a healthy growth of 13%.

Deposits grew 9% YoY, with CASA deposits rising 9%. The CASA ratio stood at 39.13% as of December 2025, while retail term deposits grew 14%, reflecting sustained traction in liability mobilisation.

The bank’s capital position remained comfortable, with the capital adequacy ratio at 14.04% and CET-1 ratio at 10.99%. Digital adoption also remained strong, with over 68% of savings bank accounts opened through Yono in Q3 and alternate channels accounting for nearly 98.6% of total transactions during the nine-month period.