Foreign students add nearly $5 bn a year to Malaysia’s economy
About 167,000 international students in Malaysia contribute around $4.95 billion a year to the economy through tuition and living expenses, the head of Education Malaysia Global Services (EMGS) said, as quoted by the New Straits Times.
EMGS chief executive Novie Tajuddin said each international student spends an average of about $2,473 a month, benefiting not only universities but surrounding communities through food and service businesses.
He said Malaysia is now recognized as one of the world’s 14 leading higher-education destinations, joining traditional top choices like the U.K., U.S., Australia, and Canada, with international enrollment up about 23 percent over three years. The country aims to attract 500,000 international students by 2035 under a 10-year higher-education plan, promoting its universities across seven to eight world regions. The main countries sending students are China, Indonesia, Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan, most of them postgraduates enrolled at public and private institutions.
In the age of connectivity, China’s economic soft power
According to World Trade Organization data, China remains among the world’s largest merchandise exporters, with the value of its goods exports reaching approximately $3.77 trillion in 2025. This figure suggests that China’s weight in global trade has not only been maintained but has deepened in several sectors.
Yet China’s commercial power cannot be reduced merely to export figures. Beijing’s principal advantage lies in its integration across the value chain. China is not simply an exporter of finished products; it also plays a decisive role in the supply of raw materials, intermediate components, assembly, logistics, and even industrial standard-setting. This characteristic has left many global industries—from electronics and machinery to renewable-energy technologies—still dependent on China’s production networks. At a time when the world faces geopolitical shocks, tariffs, and “de-risking” policies, China has sought to enhance its trade resilience by diversifying its markets and strengthening domestic demand.
In the sphere of technology and emerging industries, China is no longer merely an exporter of garments and consumer goods. It is consolidating its position in batteries, electric vehicles, solar panels, telecommunications equipment, and industrial artificial intelligence. The International Energy Agency indicates that China stands at the center of growing demand for and production of electric-vehicle batteries, making this industry one of the country’s new instruments of economic influence. This trend has created competitive advantages and new avenues of influence for Chinese companies, particularly in the markets of Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
Meanwhile, China’s outward investment has also become an important tool for expanding its economic reach. In recent years, Chinese companies have moved beyond an exclusive focus on exporting goods and toward establishing factories, forming industrial partnerships, acquiring assets, and developing distribution networks abroad. This shift brings China’s image closer to that of a “global manufacturer and investor” rather than merely a major trader. At the same time, this trajectory is accompanied by challenges, including security sensitivities, technological restrictions, and intense competition in advanced markets.
Indonesia: tightening state grip on the economy
Indonesia has never been shy about economic nationalism. Under President Prabowo Subianto, it has grown more muscular and centralised. In his latest budget speech(Opens in new window), Prabowo presented a 2027 budget built on 6 percent growth while keeping the deficit at 2.4 percent of GDP, below Indonesia’s 3 percent legal ceiling. Food self-sufficiency sits near its centre, reflecting his view that reliance on imports leaves Indonesia vulnerable when wars or export restrictions disrupt supply. But the costs of this pursuit already reveal tensions between national priorities and realities on the ground.
Merauke, at Indonesia’s southeastern edge, is the clearest example. The National Strategic Project combines one million hectares of new rice fields(Opens in new window) with large sugarcane and bioethanol developments(Opens in new window). The designation accelerates permits and land acquisition, while Indigenous communities say customary territory has been taken without consent. The wider development could convert nearly three million hectares of forest and swampland(Opens in new window). Indonesia already lost 433,751 hectares of forest in 2025(Opens in new window), up 66 percent.
Food security gives the project its economic justification, although that case depends on uncertain yields and a remarkably low valuation of the land being cleared.
Resource exports are also being pulled towards the centre. From January 2027, strategic commodity exports are expected to pass through a centralised state-controlled system(Opens in new window) intended to strengthen Indonesia’s pricing power and curb under-invoicing, which Prabowo says may have cost the country US$5 billion(Opens in new window). PT Danantara Sumberdaya Indonesia(Opens in new window), a new state-owned intermediary under Danantara Indonesia, has begun reviewing selected export transactions for possible discrepancies. In its first two months, it examined 6,500 transactions worth US$14 billion.
Recovering leakage provides a persuasive economic case for centralisation, with far less attention paid to who will ultimately capture the commodity rents over which the centre is gaining greater control.
The same governing instinct reaches much closer to everyday life through Prabowo’s Free Nutritious Meals program, known in Indonesia as Makan Bergizi Gratis, or MBG. By late July, more than 20,000 Nutrition Fulfilment Service Units, or SPPGs(Opens in new window) were preparing and distributing meals nationwide under the National Nutrition Agency, largely through private partners. The military and police have also built substantial networks within MBG. The police reported 828 operating kitchens(Opens in new window) in July 2026 and aims for 1,500 by year-end, while the military had 113 operating and launched another 339(Opens in new window) in September 2025.
Indian economic growth likely slowed to 7.1pc
Indian economic growth slowed slightly to 7.1 percent in the April-June quarter, according to a Reuters poll of economists, on more subdued private investment, though supported by consumer spending and government expenditure.
Last year’s Goods and Services Tax rate cut and income tax reductions likely continued to support household disposable and demand, helping cushion the impact of rising inflation. But economists expect the recent pickup in private investment to be temporary.
Risks to the outlook for Asia’s third-largest economy, which imports more than 85 percent of its oil, have increased as crude prices are above $90 a barrel and may climb higher.
Higher fuel and transport costs could strain household budgets while also raising costs for businesses already hesitant to invest because of uncertainty around the U.S.-Iran war.
Gross domestic product expanded 7.1 percent year-on-year in the April-June period, slowing from a better-than-expected 7.8 percent in the previous quarter, according to the median estimate in an August 17 to 24 Reuters poll of 58 economists.
Forecasts for the data due on August 31 ranged from 6.2 percent to 8.0 percent.
“We started seeing some sort of a nascent recovery in private investment since the second half of last year but it is yet to become stronger, more durable and more broad-based,” said Sakshi Gupta, principal economist at HDFC Bank.
“The conflict perhaps made private players a little bit more cautious with their outlook, in terms of their capacity expansion plans in certain sectors.”
“Momentum in consumer demand that we have continued to see in the first quarter shows the pass-through of input cost pressures and elevated oil prices has been limited,” she .
If the forecast is correct, India would remain the world’s fastest-growing major economy.
Business activity remained strong through the April to June quarter, although momentum eased in June. Companies remained optimistic about output over the next 12 months, but overall confidence slipped to a five-month low as firms pointed to difficult economic conditions and a weaker rupee as key concerns.
The rupee has weakened more than 6 percent against the dollar this year.
India’s goods and services exports, which rose more than 11 percent year-on-year during the quarter, likely provided additional support to growth, some economists said.
“Private investment may not pick up much unless there is some certainty on geopolitics because it was also hit by inflation, raw materials and supply chain challenges. Growth would still be led by government capex,” said Madhavankutty G, chief economist at Canara Bank.
Economists in the poll forecast growth to lose momentum in coming quarters. GDP growth was expected to slow to 6.6 percent this quarter and 6.5 percent next. It would average 6.7 percent this fiscal year, in line with Reserve Bank of India projections.
Gross value added, a measure of economic activity that excludes taxes and subsidies, was estimated to have expanded 7.2 percent, based on a smaller sample of forecasters.
Sri Lanka’s economy back to pre-crisis strength
Sri Lanka’s economy has recovered to almost the same size it was before the country’s unprecedented economic crisis, with key indicators pointing to sustained growth, stronger financial stability and a significantly reduced risk of returning to debt default, according to Central Bank Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe.
Describing Sri Lanka’s recovery as one of the fastest witnessed following a severe balance of payments and debt crisis, Dr. Weerasinghe said the country’s economic turnaround is increasingly being studied internationally as an example of how a nation can regain stability through reforms, fiscal discipline and international cooperation.
“The size of the economy has now recovered to almost the same levels we had before the crisis,” the Governor said, noting that per capita income has also returned to some of the highest levels previously recorded.
Sri Lanka’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), one of the most important measures of economic performance, is expected to record growth close to 5 percent this year, marking the third consecutive year of economic expansion since the crisis.
According to Dr. Weerasinghe, growth during the first half of the year is expected to remain close to 5 percent, while the second half may see slightly slower growth due to the impact of the Middle East conflict and elevated global energy prices. Nevertheless, the economy is still expected to expand within a healthy range of between 4 and 5 percent.
He expressed confidence that the country will maintain a similar growth trajectory next year, supported by ongoing reforms and investments designed to expand economic capacity.
The Governor highlighted the resilience demonstrated by the Sri Lankan economy despite several significant external and domestic challenges, including the impact of the Ditwah Cyclone and the economic effects of heightened tensions in the Middle East.
As a net importer of oil, Sri Lanka has faced pressure from rising global energy prices, which have affected inflation, the balance of payments and the pace of foreign reserve accumulation. However, Dr. Weerasinghe stressed that the country has been able to absorb these shocks because of the economic buffers built over recent years.
“We have been able to manage these situations successfully because we have created sufficient buffers across all sectors of the economy,” he said.