Asian Hub Research Articles

A review of Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) as a competitive South-East Asia hub

This paper is aimed to determine the strengths and weaknesses of Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL) against its competitors in Southeast Asia countries. Due to the geographical and market relevance issues, several airport hubs around KUL are chosen for comparison: Changi International Airport (SIN), Suvarnabhumi International Airport (BKK) and Soekarno-Hatta International Airport (CGK). Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis is used to evaluate the comparative situation between the airports in relation to changing industry and market environment. The study discovers some competitive edges for KUL. Nonetheless, the airport still has to be improved to face future challenges and it is under imminent threat of new aircraft technology.

Mandalay, Myanmar: The remaking of a South-east Asian hub in a country at the crossroads

This profile on Mandalay examines a frequently mentioned but little studied city, which is undergoing significant changes in its urban fabric and socio-economic landscape. After decades of political and economic isolation Mandalay is set to return to its once-held role of important trade and transport hub in South-East Asia. As it looks at Mandalay's geographical location and physical context, the article highlights the impact of climate change on a city already vulnerable to extreme weather effects. This is followed by an account of how the different historical phases experienced by the city impacted on its physical structure, with different sets of buildings accompanying its historical evolutions. Subsequently, the article describes Mandalay's current socio-spatial structures and reviews key policy and planning developments, before zooming in on a key development project currently in progress. Technical support and funding from the international community are playing a key role in assisting national and local authorities turn Mandalay into a resilient and sustainable city in the heartland of South-East Asia.

A comparative analysis of hub connections of European and Asian airports against Middle Eastern hubs in intercontinental markets

In a context of changing trends in global air passenger demand and strong airport and airline competition, the largest US carriers have challenged the quality of the flight connections provided by Middle Eastern hubs in direct competition with their own connections provided via European or Asian airports. Using schedules and bookings data between 2012 and 2016, we assess whether European and Asian hubs have lost market share to Middle East airports in the markets from the Eastern US to South Asia and South East Asia. Thereafter, we provide a comparative analysis of the quality of flight connections for selected European, Asian, and Middle Eastern airports, based on indicators like total frequencies, travel times, and connecting times (determined with a connections-building algorithm). The results provide insights on the threat posed by Middle East airports and airlines that have managerial and policy implications.

Redefinitions of dwelling and the transnational production of temporary housing in Asian cities

The article investigates the history of the Asian serviced-apartment industry in order to shed light on the shifting relationship between dwelling, housing, domesticity and architecture in contemporary Asian cities. It studies the architects, developers and itinerant professionals who have propelled the circulation of residential models and architectural ideas across borders and between cities. In so doing, the article investigates how designers have engaged with the growing demand for short-term housing among Asia's geographically mobile middle class. At the same time, by tracing the cross-border movement of design and management expertise related to serviced apartments, the article demonstrates how key Asian hubs, such as Singapore, operate as model cities that influence ideas about urban development throughout Asia. Drawing upon fieldwork conducted in Bangkok, the article concludes by studying how these models are subsequently modified by local regulatory norms, spatial practices, and urban design traditions.

The impact of US LNG exports and the prospects for price-competitiveness in the East Asian market

US Liquefied natural gas (LNG) export projects have attracted significant attention and expectations. US LNG with a production capacity of over 60 million tonnes per year will be indexed to Henry Hub prices, Henry Hub being a natural gas hub in the state of Louisiana, America. US LNG was regarded as a great way of reducing the LNG import cost to Asian importers which were experiencing increased LNG import costs. Rocketing LNG import costs resulted from rapid demand growth and high international LNG prices in the early 2010s and motivated discussions about de-linkage of LNG prices from crude oil prices among Asian importers. Increased domestic oil production led to the fall of the US crude oil imports, which brought down the crude oil price in the international market. Oil price falls resulted in a disappearance of the price advantage of US LNG over traditional crude oil-indexed LNG. Price-competitiveness of US LNG will be weakened if Henry Hub prices go up. Under the current low oil price market environment, the most notable influence of US LNG exports into the Asia Pacific market is a strengthening of competition, resulting from large volumes of LNG supply within a relatively short period of time, in conjunction with Australian LNG projects rather than the impact of the introduction of the new Henry Hub pricing system and its possible replacement of the existing oil indexation pricing system. The true meaning of a consumer ‘fair price’ based on gas to gas competition will only be achieved by the creation of functioning regional liquid natural gas or an LNG hub in Asia.

Can Asia Cut the Costs?

In recent years, Asian arbitration hubs such as Hong Kong and Singapore are more and more frequently preferred over established venues in Europe or the United States. Apart from the geographical advantage and many other attributes, they are uniquely positioned to provide more cost-effective options for arbitration, which may prove to be one of the major attractions to parties using arbitration. The overall costs for arbitration proceedings still impose a deterring factor that drives away potential users of arbitration, including in booming Asia. To target this issue, this article identifies the main cost drivers and analyses diverging approaches against the backdrop of the legal environment in Asia to make a proposal as to whether and how Asia can cut the costs.

Spaces of connectivity: The formation of medical travel destinations in Delhi National Capital Region (India)

AbstractExisting research on the formation of Asian medical travel destinations has highlighted a variety of activities that attract and accommodate patients from abroad. This paper contributes to the literature by drawing insights from an Indian case study, a major transnational health‐care hub in Asia that has gained little scholarly attention thus far. Using connectivity as an analytical lens, we understand medical travel destinations as a contingent product of relating, connecting and assembling. We study how connectivity is embodied and how it unfolds in care encounters at corporate hospitals in the capital of New Delhi and surrounding urban areas. The following entities are the most effectual in the networks that constitute medical travel destinations in the National Capital Region: (i) circulating narrations of personal experiences; (ii) language interpreters; and (iii) commission fees. We further elaborate on how these connectors work to link foreign patients with Indian hospitals and how they affect itineraries as well as patients and other involved actors. Finally, we suggest that the approach deployed provides a suitable framework for future research aimed at gaining a better understanding of the wider impacts of medical travel by following these connections and examining their workings at places both close and distant.

Converting Sri Lanka into a Commercial Hub in Asia an Assessment of Postwar Progress with Insights to the Way Forward - A Case Study

The Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) has embarked on a development agenda based on the Mahinda Chintanaya with the objective of converting the country to a Naval, Aviation, Commercial, Energy and Knowledge hub in Asia. In keeping with this objective, in the recent years, the GoSL has invested heavily in developing the required infrastructure and the improvement of information and communication technology. Available information illustrate that Sri Lanka has made steady progress in the three areas. Indices that are used to compare performance of countries show that Sri Lanka has shows steady performance in the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) with a GCI of 68 out of 144 and a score of 4.2 out of 7 in 2012-2013. Sri Lanka has posted positive indicators in doing business across borders. In 2007, Sri Lanka was ranked 99 out of 185 countries and by 2013 the country has improved in its rank to 56. In the Logistics Performance Index (LPI) published by the World Bank in 2010, Sri Lanka was ranked a dismal 137 out 155 countries. By 2012 the rank has improved to 81. Also the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has identified Sri Lanka as an early achiever on 10 of the 21 indicators of the Millennium Development Goals. However, it is apparent that this progress can be further accelerated through reforms in the regulations & legal framework concerning the three areas, systems and procedures and the improvement of infrastructure, ICT functionalities and HR competencies. This case study is a result of a desk research carried out into literature relating to the subject matter available in the public domain.

The gas hub in Asia

Asia remains the last net importing region without a gas hub or a representative gas price. However, increased market liquidity and more transparent pricing presage the development of hub-based trading in the region. This paper assesses three potential locations for an Asia Pacific gas hub, considering for each location the critical enabling factors of infrastructure, markets and regulation. We suggest that an Asian gas hub will evolve, but as a tripod, with: (1) an active contract trading hub in Singapore; (2) a secondary physical hub for volume storage and transfer in Tokyo harbour; and (3) a tertiary balancing point as the ultimate price arbiter in Shanghai. We do not expect this Asian hub to mature fully until the mid-2020s. However, we do see many of the crucial elements already emerging.

Research capacity strengthening in South Asia: based on the experience of South Asian Hub for Advocacy, Research and Education on Mental Health (SHARE).

The South Asian Hub for Advocacy, Research and Education (SHARE) was a five-year National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)-funded program that aimed to stimulate the research base for task-shifting mental health interventions to address the mental health treatment gap in low and middle-income countries. During its 5 years (2011-2016) SHARE made notable accomplishments, including providing 20 studentships for short courses and ten fellowships to conduct mentored study, developing a new humanitarian research training course, implementing distance learning courses, creating an online repository of training materials, creation of a network of public health researchers at different career stages in South Asia, strengthening of partnerships amongst institutions of SHARE network and supporting its member's to produce peer reviewed publications. Furthermore, additional research capacity building and research grants leveraged on SHARE network were secured. The salient lessons learned in the 5-year program were that research capacity-building opportunities need to be tailored to the local context, as SHARE sought to develop and support courses that can build the capacities in specific areas identified as weak in the South Asian region. Mentoring was recognized as a critical component for which innovative and effective models of mentoring in the region need to be developed. Diverse platforms and mediums ought to be utilized to deliver the research training programs. Finally, research capacity-building program requires collaborative efforts of multiple stakeholders working locally, nationally and globally to attain the maximum impact in a region.

Asian LNG market changes under low oil prices: prospects for trading hubs and a new price index

Presented is an analysis of the changes in the North-East Asian energy landscape as a result of the decline in global oil prices. The end of February 2016 saw the first exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the U.S. mainland when major shale gas company Cheniere Energy’s first LNG cargo left the Sabine Pass terminal in Texas. There are expectations that the beginning of U.S. LNG exports may trigger flexible trading. To the year 2020, U.S. LNG exports to North-East Asia will be increased. North-East Asia needs to continue its effort to promote regional cooperation and co-prosperity by building a North-East Asian gas trading hub. Russia will seek to keep U.S. LNG in check through price negotiations. The evolution of an Asian gas hub will be to a great extent influenced by how Russia and China will reconsider their energy strategies.

Globalizing Higher Education in India : Brain Drain in Reverse – A Review

India's bold initiative “Educate in India, announced in May 2015 to attract international students and make India a quality higher education hub in Asia is closely linked to Prime Minister Modi's other initiatives namely “Make in India, “Digital India, “Skill India, “Start-up India, “Stand-up India,” and “Swatch Bharat” (clean India), all aimed towards empowering India and making it a global economic superpower. The initiative recognizes the fact that despite being among the world's youngest countries, India will not be able to reap its demographic dividend if its higher education remains in its current dismissal state. India aspires to transition from having the second highest student population leaving its shores to study abroad to becoming a premier educational destination attracting more international students to its shores. The paper reviewed the current status of India in the global higher education sector, recognized the benefits of globalizing higher education, and identified some of the prerequisites required to internationalize. Drawing inspiration from the experience of Asian countries like Singapore, China, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, it is expected to encourage more debate and future research on ways to attract a higher proportion of international students to India. If India is able to provide the capacity and quality required for its expanding young population while also competing globally to attract inbound international students, then the 'Educate in India' initiative will truly complement other initiatives. While the Govt. of India has already embarked on the journey, a lot more needs to be done to “liberalize, privatize, and globalize” higher education in India to attract and retain international students.

Integrating two cultures successfully: Factors influencing acculturation attitude of international postgraduate students in Malaysia

Based on Berry’s seminal work on the acculturation process, this study examines the pattern of acculturation attitude among international postgraduate students in Malaysia, an emerging education hub in Asia. It also investigates the influence of several demographic factors (gender, geographical region, marital status, and education level) and predictors (English language proficiency, media usage, intention to stay in the host country after graduation, and perceived positive stereotype image) on international postgraduate students’ four acculturation attitudes integration, separation, assimilation, and marginalization. Our survey of a sample of 1186 international postgraduate students reveals that the most prevalent acculturation attitude chosen by the international postgraduate students is integration. The identified predictors are shown to positively influence integration attitude while the demographic factors have no significant effect on international postgraduate students’ acculturation attitude in Malaysia. Study findings provide valuable insights for education policymakers and university administrators to manage and address the needs of international students via effective acculturation programs.

Locational Preferences for Regional Distribution Center : Focused on Asian Hub Airports

Locational Preferences for Regional Distribution Center : Focused on Asian Hub Airports

Japanese Forwarders’ Local Import Hub in Asia: 3PL Power and Environmental Improvement

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate by an econometric method which countries or regions in Asia are superior import hubs for Japan based on two axes, the third party logistics (3PL) business power of Japanese local forwarders and the logistical environment catch-up speed of these countries. According to the estimated results, this simple model can explain the structural changes in China's logistics based on its WTO accession and can develop Japanese forwarders’ stable import hub ranking by suggesting total optimization in the East Asian NIES (newly industrial economies) and the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Countries) districts by Japanese forwarders.

Potential and Prospects of Strengthening Transport Connectivity for Regional Economic Integration in Southern Asia

Despite geographical contiguity, Southern Asia remains among the least integrated sub-regions in the world. In the context of changed global context in the aftermath of the global financial crisis requiring the engines of growth to be rebalanced in favour of regional sources, inability to exploit the potential of regional economic integration and regional value chains can seriously limit the growth prospects of the sub-region. ESCAP analysis shows that while potential of intra-regional trade remains substantial, its exploitation is prevented by costs of trading within the sub-region which are often higher than trading with distant regions like the EU and North America, effectively denying the benefits of geographical proximity and contiguity to intra-regional trade. This situation is because of poorly developed surface transport networks and facilitation at the borders for mutual trade in the sub-region. This article reviews the key constraints on surface transport in the sub-region and makes a case for extended transport corridors that can maximize the network externalities while using the existing infrastructure optimally and benefiting the landlocked countries of the sub-region. It then highlights the relevance of two extended transport corridors—one a container train corridor and another a highway corridor proposed by UNESCAP—that can not only facilitate but have the potential to make the sub-region a hub of Asia–Europe trade. It is concluded with a few remarks on the way forward for a vision of transport connectivity in South Asia.

Data as Social Culture: Networked Innovation and Government 3.0

During the past two decades, we have witnessed a change in the focus of theoretical and practical endeavors toward understanding and promoting innovations. This focus has moved from specific individuals, institutions, and their properties to their relations. However, despite the general acceptance of the positive relationship between innovation and networks, few studies offer empirical evidence for the linking of networks to innovations. In addition, with the advent of the era of ‘big data’ it is urgent to reflect upon certain key elements. We must examine what meanings social network data may reveal with regard to innovation and the roles played by different stakeholders. We must also find approaches for analyzing these meanings and for presenting interpretations persuasively. Thus this special issue of the Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia (JCEA) can help us take some initial steps toward addressing how and why certain collaborations for innovations emerge and are sustained in certain ways by using various methodological approaches. While there are no simple answers for how best to optimize network connections for innovations, each of three papers in this issue begin to plot a path forward. The three papers are outstanding original works presented at the 2nd Annual Asian Hub Conference on Triple Helix and Network Sciences (DISC) held in South Korea in 2014. The theme of the conference was “Data as Social Culture: Networked Innovation and Government 3.0”, and the focus was on understanding how institutional arrangements and communication flows induce emergent knowledge-intensive clusters and networked innovations. The conference included competition for “The IMC Award.” The IMC (http://theimc.co.kr), which is specialized in marketing consulting and data-mining solutions, thankfully sponsored this award at the conference in order to promote participation. The competition for this award prompted more than 50 submissions. Papers were reviewed by the IMC award committee based on several criteria such as innovation, significance of the contribution, and professional quality and award announcements were made during the conference. The piece by Skoric, Ju, Fu, Sim and Park is a clear illustration of the type of study that can help us understand how to improve job-related information acquisition, job mobility and entrepreneurial opportunities through social network sites and mobile telephones. Using social capital as window to examine the social networking activities of 1,042 adult Singaporean citizens or permanent residents, the authors carefully examine critical issues like job mobility, job information and entrepreneurship. The authors’ findings are as novel as they are salient: while con-

The Race for IP Hub of Asia

Singapore in recent years seems to have witnessed a lot of patent filing activities. The purpose of this study is to quantitatively study the publishing trends of the Singapore Patent Office to gauge the intensity of the IP related activity. The patent publications from 2009 through 2014 has been studied for the purpose of this study. The study focuses on most prominent patent filers in Singapore (both domestic and foreign), the major law firms here that dominate the patent prosecution business, the technology areas prominently being filed here, a brief study of prosecution timelines, the role of technical Universities in patent filing activities and other similar trends. The study has been conducted using commercial patent databases such as Thomson Innovation and the like. Quantitative data showing the major firms like Drew and Napier, Spruson and Ferguson, Mark and Clerk, etc. seem to dominate the patent prosecution activities from major corporations like Qualcomm, Exxon, etc. A*STAR, NTU and NUS seem to be the major domestic contributors among Universities and research Institutes. In conclusion, Singapore appears to be the IP hub of Asia based on the quantitative results. However, it is still far from becoming the research hub of Asia as the major portion of the patent filing are domestic counterparts of foreign applications, majorly coming from USA and Japan.

Policy Responses to Address Student “Brain Drain”

For several decades, Singapore has experienced a high rate of outbound degree mobility with around 1 in 10 higher education students currently studying outside the country according to UNESCO figures. Singapore’s successful economic development strategy, which has seen it become a key Asian hub for knowledge-intensive industries for internationalized services, has benefited from the presence of large numbers of graduates who have been educated abroad. However, significant numbers of Singaporean students do not return home after their studies, and since the late 1990s, the government has expressed concern about the resulting “brain drain.” This article examines four strategies that have been used by the Singapore government to address this concern: reducing the number of outbound students through improvements to domestic study options, promoting the return of graduates after their studies, engagement with the Singaporean diaspora, and recruitment of incoming international students into the workforce. While data are limited, the measures adopted to support each of these approaches appear to have had some success over the past decade. While the circumstances of each sending country vary, the case of Singapore is illustrative of the types of practical measures that are effectively adopted by governments to moderate the negative impacts of student emigration.

Evaluating student satisfaction of quality at international branch campuses

The aim of this research is to present the determinants of students’ perceptions of quality and experience of study at international branch campuses in Malaysia, a country that is set to become an academic hub in Asia. This study used a multi-method approach for data collection. The respondents comprised 245 students (both undergraduate and postgraduate) from six renowned international branch campuses operating in the country – three from Australia, two from the UK and one from India. In addition, a total of 21 face-to-face interviews were conducted after the survey. The results revealed that across the seven dimensions examined concerning education and non-education qualities – university reputation/image, programme quality, lecturers and teaching quality, student learning environment, effective use of technology, counselling and academic advising support, and social life (direct/indirect) facilities – the students were largely satisfied. The paper adds to the existing body of research on higher education service quality, particularly on students’ perceptions and expectations of international branch campuses.