Media Mentions

Japanese voters have handed Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi a powerful mandate, delivering her ruling coalition a crushing victory in Sunday’s (Feb 8) lower house election. The nation’s political scene has been marred in recent years by scandals, shifting alliances and revolving-door leadership. But observers say Sunday’s result could signal a break from that volatility. “I […]

“From their perspective, the LDP had become too moderate under the last two prime ministers,” said Rintaro Nishimura, a Tokyo-based senior associate at The Asia Group, a consulting firm. Her policy direction, though, remains unclear. She floated cutting the 8% consumption tax on food, a proposal that drew swift criticism from economists and was later

9fin’s Asia editor Richard Macauley was joined by Akihiro Tsuchiya, senior advisor at The Asia Group and former senior MOF official (Japan), as well as David Boling, principal at The Asia Group and former deputy assistant US trade representative for Japan, to discuss the upcoming election on 8 February.

Younger people have historically been less likely to vote than older generations that have underpinned the LDP’s near unbroken post-war rule. But even a modest win would underline how her personal appeal has single-handedly revived the fortunes of a party whose long grip on power was slipping fast, said David Boling, a principal at The

“They course-corrected very quickly,” said Ashok Malik, chair of the India practice at the Asia Group strategic advisory firm. On the U.S. side, Trump dispatched his close aide Sergio Gor as ambassador to India in January, which some political experts saw as a chance to reset U.S.-India relations. Gor promised in his first public remarks

President Trump has announced a new trade agreement with India, saying the US will cut tariffs from 50 percent to 18 percent in exchange for India stopping its purchases of Russian oil. However, few details about the deal have been released publicly, fuelling uncertainty about what was actually agreed. Mark Linscott, Former Assistant US Trade Representative

A vice minister from China’s Ministry of Science and Technology will lead the delegation, said George Chen, partner and co-chair of digital practice at consultancy The Asia Group, citing conversations with his government contacts. He added that the Indian embassy in Beijing had reached out to China to arrange the visas.

“More needs to be done to insulate the relationship and ensure there is enough resiliency to withstand future challenges,” Basant Sanghera, managing principal at The Asia Group. He said both sides still need to finalize a legally binding text, noting that tariff reductions represent only the first phase of the bilateral agreement.

The announcements were greeted, initially at least, with a collective sigh of relief. Stocks in Asia jumped on Tuesday with shares in India rising nearly 3 percent. “This removes an enormous irritant on the U.S.-India side and opens the path for perhaps more cooperation and convergence,” said Nisha Biswal, a partner at the Asia Group

Former US Assistant Secretary of State Nisha Biswal tells Bloomberg’s Haslinda Amin why a trade deal between Washington and Delhi is finally within reach. (Source: Bloomberg)