Singapore keeps its monetary policy unchanged, contrary to expectations

US President Donald Trump said that Taiwan has agreed to buy 30 percent of the liquefied natural gas that will be produced by the Alaska Pipeline Project, in a move that comes as part of Washington's efforts to boost US energy exports to Asian markets and reduce the trade surplus that displeases the US administration.

US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who joined Trump at an election rally in Alaska, said on Tuesday that Taiwan has pledged to invest $4.4 billion in developing the pipeline. The final terms of the agreement were not immediately clear, nor was it confirmed whether it had been signed in binding form.

Taiwan's Ministry of Economy, which is responsible for energy policy, did not immediately comment on the statements. Taiwanese Prime Minister Chu Jong-tae said that the government is working to “stabilize energy supplies and enhance their resilience,” like other governments.

Last February, Taiwanese officials announced their intention to increase purchases of American natural gas to constitute about a third of the island's gas imports this year, while reducing purchases from other countries. Taiwan's CPC Energy Company also signed an agreement with the Alaska Gas Pipeline Development Company last year to purchase gas and invest in the project.

The governor of Alaska at the time said that Taiwan had signed a letter of intent to purchase 6 million tons of liquefied natural gas annually from the project, while Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te considered that the investment would contribute to enhancing the island's energy security.

A project to expand American exports

If the project is implemented, it will be able to export up to 20 million tons of liquefied natural gas annually. So far, it has concluded agreements covering 13 million tons annually with buyers in Asia and the French company Total Energies, while it needs additional agreements for about 3 million tons, with these understandings turning into binding contracts to secure financing.

The project would provide a direct route for US gas exports to Asian markets, including Taiwan, without passing through the Panama Canal or going around the Cape of Good Hope, which could reduce transportation time and costs.

Taiwan seeks to increase its purchases from the United States, including energy, in an effort to reduce its trade surplus with Washington. Trump said last month that South Korea had agreed to invest in the Alaska project, whose cost is estimated at about $54 billion, but Seoul made clear that the agreement had not yet been decided.

Philippine Central Bank Governor Eli Remolona called on Asian economies to strengthen their preparedness to confront financial crises, warning that the large capital inflows that the region attracted before the crisis of the late 1990s should not be interpreted as evidence of sustainable growth, at a time when Asian economies face new risks linked to rising energy prices and global trade tensions.

Remolona said, during a discussion session organized by the International Monetary Fund on the prospects for the economies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), on the sidelines of the annual meetings of the Fund and the World Bank in Bangkok, that large investment flows to the region preceded the Asian financial crisis that broke out in 1997, after international institutions described it at the time as “the economic miracle of East Asia.”

He added that the crisis showed that this boom was not necessarily a sustainable economic miracle, calling on countries in the region to remember its lessons and intensify efforts to prevent the recurrence of such crises.

On the other hand, the Director of the Asia and Pacific Department at the International Monetary Fund, Krishna Srinivasan, said that the Fund has made progress in developing tools to assess financial vulnerabilities and the transmission of the repercussions of shocks between economies, including developing frameworks to deal with fluctuations in capital flows and identifying conditions that may require intervention in foreign exchange markets.

Srinivasan pointed out that the ASEAN economies dealt with the trade tensions resulting from US tariffs with some degree of resilience, but he warned that the heavy dependence of some countries in the region on oil and gas imports makes them more vulnerable to the repercussions of energy shocks.

Energy and supply chains

For his part, Japanese Deputy Finance Minister for International Affairs, Atsushi Mimura, considered the energy shock resulting from the conflict in the Middle East, along with the rise in inflation, among the most prominent short-term risks facing the region’s prospects.

He stressed the need for financial support measures directed to mitigate the impact of rising energy costs on families and companies to be targeted, designed according to needs, and temporary, in a way that reduces pressures on public finances.

Mimura called on ASEAN countries to increase investments to diversify supply chains for vital minerals and energy, in light of the increasing competition with China, stressing Japan's readiness to support these efforts.

Economies also urged the region to boost investment in innovation and artificial intelligence, pointing to its position in digital transformation supply chains thanks to its production of vital minerals used in technology industries.

ASEAN includes 11 countries: Brunei, Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Chinese exports jumped more than expected in September, putting the country on track to record a record annual trade surplus, at a time when pressure is mounting from the United States and the European Union to rebalance trade relations, amid Beijing’s continued reliance on foreign markets to compensate for weak domestic demand.

Data from the Chinese General Administration of Customs showed, on Wednesday, that exports rose by 36.3 percent year-on-year, exceeding the expectations of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg for an increase of 25.7 percent. Imports also rose by 31 percent, with the second largest economy in the world recording a trade surplus of $133.5 billion during the month, the largest since January 2025.

Thus, China's cumulative trade surplus from the beginning of the year until the end of September rose to $938.1 billion, putting it on track to exceed the record level of $1.2 trillion recorded last year.

The strong performance of exports reflects Beijing's continued reliance on external demand to achieve the annual economic growth target of between 4.5 and 5 percent, in light of relatively weak domestic demand, as retail sales rose only 0.4 percent on an annual basis in August.

Increasing trade pressures

The boom in Chinese exports is sparking increasing reactions from its major trading partners, especially the United States and the European Union, which are seeking to reduce trade imbalances with Beijing.

Chinese shipments to the United States rose by 39.6 percent during September, compared to low levels in the same month last year, after trade between the two countries declined following the imposition of mutual punitive customs duties.

Chinese exports to the European Union also increased by 25.3 percent, while imports from the bloc's countries remained stable, pushing China's trade surplus with the Union to new levels.

European officials described the bloc's trade deficit with China, which exceeds one billion euros per day, as "unsustainable," pledging to work to rebalance trade relations.

In this context, Chinese and European trade officials last week reached an agreement to limit Chinese hybrid car exports to Europe. But analysts believe that the agreement covers a limited share of bilateral trade, with the possibility that Brussels will expand the restrictions to include other strategic sectors.

Nguyen Hoang Nam, an economist specializing in China at Capital Economics, said that the expansion of European restrictions may have a limited impact on the Chinese economy, according to the institution’s estimates.