EditorialA month before the US presidential election, it is clear that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) - history's most comprehensive free-trade deal - will not be approved anytime soon in its country of origin. Thus far the regional pact has made inadequate progress because key Asian economies have been less than cooperative. In the meantime China is keen to strike partnerships with Asean and its member-countries, thrusting Southeast Asia into the trade spotlight.Four Asean member-nations - Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei and Vietnam - are negotiating over the TPP, obviously confident that their economic conditions can cope with broader overseas trade. But the world is also increasingly interconnected, and no country can exist in isolation. Only through overseas engagement can we find solutions to inequality and discontent.

Source: The Nation Bangkok October 06, 2016 18:00 UTC