Chief Economist & Political Strategist, CrossASEAN Research

Prasenjit K. Basu

PK Basu has 34 years experience covering Asia's economies and markets (equities, fixed income and currencies), including 20 years covering the global economy. He was Chief Economist (SE Asia & India) at Credit Suisse First Boston for 5 years, and Chief Asia (x-Jpn) Economist at Daiwa Securities for a similar period. Among other roles, he was global head of research at Maybank Kim Eng, Malaysia equity research head and chief ASEAN economist at Macquarie, Chief Economist at ICICI Securities, ASEAN economist at UBS and the first chief economist at Khazanah Nasional (where he was co-head of research, and led all agri-business initiatives). PK Basu started his career in the Asia Service of WEFA (Wharton Econometrics) in Philadelphia in 1990, rising to be Director of their Asia Service in June 1994. 
PK's book, "Asia Reborn: A continent rises from the ravages of Colonialism and War to a New Dynamism" won the Tata Literature First Book Award (non-fiction) for 2018. It is the first single chronicle of the modern economic and political history of the whole of Asia (from Iraq and Turkey to Korea and Japan, and everything in between), told from an Asian perspective.

Chief Economist & Political Strategist

RCEP Is a Boon for Japan, Korea, China; Not so Much for ASEAN, ANZ

Regional Integration Will Provide More Synergies for Asia

CPTPP Gains Traction: Multilateralism Is (Still) Well and Alive

Diplomacy/ Procreation/ Yuan/ US-China/ Shein

CrossASEAN Research

At CrossASEAN Research we strive to produce unbiased and differentiated on the ground insights on companies across South East Asia. Our Research is produced for the most part after face to face meetings and conversations with company management to dig deep into the long term vision and strategy of the companies we cover. We seek to deliver investable and actionable themes on sectors and markets across SE Asia, often in collaboration with other Insight Providers across the region, pooling the vast experience of the analysts within the Smartkarma Ecosystem. We also offer bespoke work and tailor made trips for our clients. 

Insights across South East Asia

Macroeconomics

iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex-Japan ETF (AAXJ US)

iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex-Japan ETF

<ul>
<li>In 2022 (the first year with the RCEP fully operational), ASEAN's bilateral trade deficit with China nearly doubled to US$163bn, while China's surpluses with Japan and Korea shrank. </li>
<li>RCEP entailed the reduction in tariffs, but non-tariff barriers (China's primary form of protection for its economy) remained unaffected. Ironically, China has seen big unilateral gains from implementation of RCEP. </li>
<li>The imposition of higher US tariffs since 2019, and tighter export controls since 2022, has shrunk China's bilateral trade surplus with the US, while boosting the rest of Asia's surpluses. </li>
</ul>


In 2022 (the first year with the RCEP fully operational), ASEAN's bilateral trade deficit with China nearly doubled to US$163bn, while China's surpluses with Japan and Korea shrank. 
RCEP entailed the reduction in tariffs, but non-tariff barriers (China's primary form of protection for its economy) remained unaffected. Ironically, China has seen big unilateral gains from implementation of RCEP. 
The imposition of higher US tariffs since 2019, and tighter export controls since 2022, has shrunk China's bilateral trade surplus with the US, while boosting the rest of Asia's surpluses. 


MSCI AC Asia Pacific Excluding Japan Index (MXAPJ INDEX)

MSCI AC Asia Pacific Excluding Japan Index

RCEP Is Benefitting China, but Not ASEAN; Latter Gains US Market-Share