Asia Roundup
Vietnam Unveils $2.5 Trillion, 100-Year Blueprint for Hanoi
Vietnam has officially unveiled a 100-year vision and master plan for Hanoi, as it steps up efforts to attract investment and deepen partnerships with the private sector, CNA reported.
The USD 2.5 trillion blueprint covers major infrastructure and transport projects. It also includes investing in healthcare, elderly care and smart technologies to support the capital’s long-term growth.
DBS Completes Inaugural Synthetic Securitisation Transaction
Singapore’s DBS announced the completion of its inaugural synthetic securitisation transaction, referencing a USD 1 billion diversified portfolio of corporate loans, according to its press release. This is the first such transaction undertaken by a Singapore bank.
Synthetic securitisations, also known as Significant Risk Transfer (SRT) transactions, are used by global banks as part of capital and risk management. Through this transaction, investors bear a share of the referenced portfolio’s credit risk, enabling them to gain exposure to loan portfolios underwritten by the bank.
This allows DBS to reduce the regulatory capital held against these assets and redeploy it towards new lending and growth opportunities, while continuing to own and service the underlying loans, according to the press release.
New World, Ares Cut Hong Kong Office Tower Unit Prices Up to 57%
A commercial complex in an industrial neighborhood of Hong Kong has become the latest flashpoint in a commercial property market struggling with pockets of weakness, even as the broader real estate market rebounds, Bloomberg reported.
Investment firm Ares Management and developer New World Development, which co-own the office-and-retail tower 83 Wing Hong Street, have recently dropped prices to offload some units in the development. They cut some asking prices including discounts and rebates by as much as about 57% from when the project launched in 2024.
Indonesia Roundup
Indonesians Sour on Prabowo Subianto as Currency Weakens
Small protests, mainly led by university students, have been held across the country in recent weeks over Prabowo’s stewardship of the economy, The Financial Times reported.
The rupiah has tumbled 7% this year to trade around all-time lows – below even levels during the Asian financial crisis in the 1990s.
The foreign exchange weakness is also being acutely felt by poorer Indonesians despite social assistance schemes such as cash aid at a time when job creation has also been weak.
Acrostics Asia wrote on 23 June 2026:
The president was likely forced to rein in his flagship free lunch scheme because the market outflows and the rupiah’s drop to record lows risked hurting the lower-to-middle income class, which is a key voter base for the former general.
Indonesia Capital Flight Caps Most-Profitable Bank’s Wealth Push
Indonesia’s biggest non-state bank said capital flight has hampered efforts to expand its wealth management business, underscoring how an erosion of investor confidence is hindering the private sector in Southeast Asia’s largest economy, Bloomberg reported.
Bank Central Asia has seen a significant increase in customers transferring money abroad this year, Chief Executive Officer Hendra Lembong said in an interview from Jakarta this month. The outflow was likely “a reflection of the situation” in the country, which needs to improve, said Lembong.
Acrostics Asia wrote on 19 April 2025:
📒 Quick Take: Indonesian Outflows
Capital started flowing out of the country partly due to fears of being caught on the wrong side of the power consolidation around the president’s camp. Some were surprised by the speed and scale of the operation, a friend said, noting that questions over whether there’s a grand design or not had added to the uncertainty.
Acrostics Asia also noted on 23 May 2026:
Wealthy Indonesians already accumulated significant assets or investments in neighbouring Singapore, so they have been diversifying to offshore destinations such as the Middle East, the UK, mainland China and Hong Kong, according to bankers familiar with the matter.
Acrostics Asia is an independent credit intelligence provider that delivers forward-looking insights across Asian sovereigns, private credit and restructurings.