New Vietnam Digital Vision Future After World Economic Forum 2025
Plus DeepSeek chips fallout; missile barbs; China sector threat; cross-continental cable inroads; big telecom first talk; coming EV bet and much, much more.
Greetings to new readers and welcome all to the latest edition of the weekly ASEAN Wonk BulletBrief! If you haven’t already, you can upgrade to a paid subscription for $5 a month/$50 a year below to receive full posts by inserting your email address and then selecting an annual or monthly option. You can visit this page for more on pricing for institutions, groups as well as discounts. For current paid subscribers, please make sure you’re hitting the “view entire message” prompt if it comes up at the end of a post to see the full version.
For this iteration of ASEAN Wonk BulletBrief, we are looking at:
Assessing the geopolitical and geoeconomic significance of Vietnam’s new digital vision future alongside shifting regional and global developments;
Mapping of regional developments, including DeepSeek chips fallout; missile barbs and warship spotlight;
Charting evolving geopolitical, geoeconomic and security trends such as China sector threat; cross-continental cable inroads and rail networking;
Tracking and analysis of industry developments and quantitative indicators including big telecom first talk; coming EV bet and nuclear ambitions;
And much more! ICYMI, check out our latest ASEAN Wonk Podcast episode on the big stakes between major powers and ASEAN for East Timor.
This Week’s WonkCount: 2,227 words (~10 minutes)
DeepSeek Chips Fallout; Missile Barbs & Warship Spotlight

Geoconomic Imbalance; Foreign Policy Outlook & Prolonged Polycrisis
“Around 70 percent of the world, or 145 economies, trade more with China than they do with America, while more than half of all economies now trade twice as much with China compared to the United States,” per a new data snapshot published by the Lowy Institute on the state of global trading relationships with both superpowers. This is a stark contrast from 2001, when more than 80 percent of economies that had a two-way trade with America than China and Beijing had just acceded to the World Trade Organization. China is also the largest bilateral trading partner for 60 economies, nearly twice for the United States which is the largest bilateral trading partner for 33 economies (link).
Graphical Illustration of Which Countries Have Either China (Red) or US (Blue) as Largest Trading Partners
“[T]he bogies of inflation, inequality, immigration, loom large. And so the ‘isms’ have returned – nationalism, protectionism,” Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said at a recent speech on Singapore’s road ahead as the country marks 60 years of its independence this year and is set to hold its next general election. The remarks address Singapore’s trajectory so far, the current state of the world and how it should position itself in the coming years (link).
“The coming year will test Myanmar’s resilience to its limits as it navigates the numerous challenges of this prolonged polycrisis…the international community must adapt its support strategies accordingly,” argues a new report released by the United Nations Development Program analyzing what it calls the country’s “enduring polycrisis.” The report examines the country’s multifaceted challenges but also highlights opportunities to mitigate impacts of ongoing crises through several pathways including harnessing youth potential, empowering women and building up local capacities to manage and administer their own development (link).
Select Indicators for Myanmar in New UNDP Report
New Vietnam Digital Vision Future After World Economic Forum 2025
What’s Behind It
Vietnam’s new vision for the smart era has been in the spotlight over the past few weeks1. The country has been promoting its approach to navigating an intelligent age at forums including the World Economic Forum in Davos, reinforcing the role of technology in what ASEAN Wonk heard one official describe in a briefing as a “top critical breakthrough”2. This comes alongside wider developments in the first month of 2025 that reinforce competitiveness in the digital domain. Singapore has been at the center of a new wave of speculation as to the role of intermediaries in providing U.S. export-controlled chip access to China startup DeepSeek3. Individual ASEAN states are also continuing to develop partnerships with Indo-Pacific partners. For instance, digital cooperation was among the areas discussed between India and Indonesia during President Prabowo Subianto’s state visit, while the Philippines and Korea kicked off the inaugural iteration of a new dialogue (see ASEAN Wonk graphic below)4.
Select Key Recent Tech-Related Southeast Asia Geoeconomic Developments in January 2025
The digital vision is part of a broader emphasis by the country’s leadership on the sector in 2025 as a key pillar in the ambitions of one of Asia’s fastest-growing economies. Vietnam’s leaders have noted that the country is moving forward with steps in 2025 such as a new national database amid a geopolitical environment of “unhealthy competition” and uncertainty from some businesses despite new forays by others like Nvidia5. Mindful of fierce regional and global competition, they have called for bolder and more urgent structural adjustments to facilitate “new mindsets” beyond metrics unveiled in ongoing guidance, including a key resolution and supporting decisions related to science, technology and innovation6. As ASEAN Wonk noted following a trip to Hanoi, these steps are seen as critical for the country to escape the middle income trap and achieve the longer-term goal of becoming a high-income economy by 20457.
Why It Matters
The vision also contains key developments and details in the evolving agenda with domestic, regional and global components (see originally generated ASEAN Wonk table below on notable datapoints and additional specifics. Paying subscribers can read on for more on what to expect and future implications in the rest of the “Why It Matters” and “Where It’s Headed” sections, along with paid-only sections of the newsletter as usual).