Population is no longer a reliable predictor of power in Asia. As demographic paths diverge, outcomes depend on how effectively countries convert scale into productivity, exposing a widening gap between demographic potential and economic performance.
Asia’s demographic paths are diverging. Aging, decline and expansion are no longer parallel trends but structural forces reshaping labor markets, capital flows and long-term geopolitical positioning across the region.
Behind Asia’s economic rise lies a deeper system: people. This series explores how demographics, talent flows, education and urban transformation function as strategic infrastructure—quietly shaping power, resilience and long-term geopolitical outcomes across the region.
As the world shifts toward electrification, Rohm Semiconductor plays a crucial but largely unseen role. Its advanced power chips and Silicon Carbide technology enable more efficient energy use in electric vehicles, industry and infrastructure, quietly shaping the future of global energy systems.
India’s technological rise is not accidental but built on a layered system of elite institutions. From the engineering pipelines of the Indian Institutes of Technology to deep-tech research and entrepreneurial scale, this is the hidden infrastructure behind the global talent economy.
This Focus series explores how Asia is building the human infrastructure behind technological power. From elite engineering institutes to state-driven research systems, talent is emerging as a decisive force shaping global competition, innovation ecosystems and the future balance of power.
SK Hynix’s €7 billion EUV order from ASML signals a deeper shift in the AI race. As demand accelerates, memory — not compute — is emerging as the critical bottleneck shaping the next phase of global technology power.
China is no longer trying to revive demand-driven growth. Instead, policy is shifting toward strategic industries that strengthen technological control and export capacity, signaling a deeper transition from cyclical stimulus to a production-focused economic model built for long-term resilience.
Diplomacy is being reshaped by code, data and digital infrastructure. Across Asia, states compete not only through negotiations, but by controlling the systems that define connectivity, influence and sovereignty in an increasingly fragmented technological order.
Minilateral alliances are reshaping the Indo-Pacific, offering speed and flexibility in an era of strategic rivalry. As traditional institutions struggle with consensus, smaller coalitions redefine how power, cooperation and security are organised across an increasingly fragmented global order.
