ASEAN News & Analysis

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Russia-ASEAN trade in 2025 showed significant growth, with trade up over 30% by August, focusing on energy, agriculture, digital tech and nuclear power, while the ASEAN countries – Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam – sought diversified partners and access to Russian goods like components and resources, utilizing non-dollar payments amidst sanctions, with new cooperation plans for 2026-2035 being finalized. Discover trade agreements, investment flows, and business strategies for entering Southeast Asia’s dynamic markets from Russia, and vice-versa.

Rail Partnerships
Featured August 12, 2026

Russia’s Growing Railway Partnerships With Asia And The Global South: A Strategic, Geopolitical and Financial Analysis

Russia has been developing a massive international railway strategy that includes multiple industrial development sectors and infrastructure across Central Asia, the Middle East, India, China, and deep into Southeast Asia on a scale little recognised. We deep dive the expansion of Russia’s railway development, how it is managing this, and the potential new routes that could become available.

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ASEAN Meetings
July 26, 2026

Russia’s Three Day ASEAN & Global South Meetings In Manila: Key Takeaways & Analysis

The Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, has held three days of meetings in Manila with all the ASEAN countries, in addition to meetings with India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Brazil and the United States. These took place under the Russia-ASEAN Summit, the ASEAN Regional Forum and the East Asia Summit. We provide detailed analysis of each of these discussions as well as examine the geopolitical and trade dynamics.

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ASEAN Talks
July 23, 2026

Lavrov Talks Up Russia’s Potential Trade & Development With ASEAN

The Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, has been meeting with the collective Foreign Ministers of ASEAN in Manila, as part of the Russia-ASEAN Foreign Ministers annual summit. Lavrov stated he saw “Very good prospects in food and energy security, the digital transformation, and the platform economy.” We provide the latest trade data.

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Indonesia Paqyment
July 13, 2026

Sberbank Rolls Out QR Payments System In Indonesia

Russia’s Sberbank has announced the launch of a 40 million outlet QR code payment system operational throughout Indonesia. The two countries have a Free Trade Agreement while destinations such as Bali are very popular with Russian tourists. The QR code system renders payment mechanisms such as SWIFT essentially obsolete.

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