In this episode of the *Asia Pacific Business Forum Podcast*, we speak with Tan Sri Andrew Sheng, one of Asia’s most respected voices on finance, governance, and global economic policy. A former central banker and financial regulator, Tan Sri Sheng brings a lifetime of insight into the shifting power dynamics shaping Asia’s response to global trade challenges.


Our conversation examines how ASEAN nations are navigating the U.S. trade tariffs under the Trump administration—where new strategic partnerships are defining the region’s evolving economic landscape. Tan Sri Sheng remains cautiously optimistic but underscores the volatility of these relationships, invoking Henry Kissinger’s warning: ‘It may be dangerous to be America’s enemy, but to be America’s friend is fatal.’ 



Interviewed by:


Richard Drobnick Ph.D.


Asia Business Strategies 



Produced by:

Dan Griffin

www.ggfilms.com

In this episode of the Asia Pacific Business Forum Podcast, we speak with Peter Drysdale, Emeritus Professor of Economics at The Australian National University, a leading authority on Asia-Pacific economic integration, and an intellectual architect of APEC, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation organization whose leaders met in South Korea three days after our conversation.

 

Peter discusses the increasing tension between President Trump’s “coercive power” bilateral approach and the rules-based, multilateral system of “cooperative regionalism,” which has been a key to

the remarkable economic successes of Asian economies—what he describes as a growing “struggle between two conceptions of the world.”

 

In response to American pressures, leaders of RCEP—the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, comprising the ASEAN nations plus Australia, China, Japan, Korea, and New Zealand—who met in Kuala Lumpur on the day prior to our conversation, vowed to accelerate their commitments for greater economic integration, seeking to “de-risk” their economies from the United States. As Peter notes, this will accelerate the integration of RCEP member economies with China.

In this episode of the Asia Pacific Business Forum Podcast, Dick Drobnick speaks with Glyn Ford, one of Europe’s foremost experts on East Asia and the Korean Peninsula. Over a 25-year career in the European Parliament, Ford made nearly 50 visits to North Korea, developing a deep understanding of its politics, its leaders, and its position in the region. He is the author of *North Korea on the Brink: Struggle for Survival* and *Talking to North Korea*, and has been at the center of high-level dialogue and negotiation efforts for decades.

Ford brings candid insights into the relationship between Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump, remarking, “You can’t trust Pyongyang, but Pyongyang has learned not to trust the US.” On pragmatic deal-making to slow nuclear weapons development, he’s blunt: “If Pyongyang will take $100 million a year not to develop nuclear weapons—grab the handle!”.

Listen as Ford unpacks the realities behind the headlines and explores what it would take to possibly maintain stability in Northeast Asia.

In this episode, of the Asia Pacific Business Forum Podcast, we speak with SD Darmono, one of Indonesia’s influential business figures and the architect of the country's Special Economic Zone strategy. As founder of the Jababeka Group, Darmono helped transform a vision from the early 1990s into a thriving industrial city—creating over a million jobs through partnerships with 2,000 companies from 36 countries.

 

His work created what he calls. “A cut and paste” model for development across the Indonesian archipelago, linking industry, infrastructure, and education. Known for playing the long game, Darmono pointed out, “If you take the analogy of Hong Kong, after 100 years, who benefitted more, the UK or China?”

In this episode of the Asia Pacific Business Forum Podcast, Dick Drobnick speaks with Geoff Cowan, former Dean of the USC Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism and 22nd Director of the Voice of America.

The discussion centers on how the Trump administration has disrupted global journalism and constrained the international flow of information. They discuss the damage being done by the termination of the Voice of America. Termination that undoes much of Geoff’s own work when as the 22nd Director of the Voice of America from 1994 to 1996, he expanded VOA's language services from 47 to 53 and oversaw VOA's first use of internet broadcasting.

In this episode of the Asia Pacific Business Forum Podcast Professor Qiwei Chen brings insight to China’s possible reactions to the Trump Administration’s tariffs.

Will the tariffs push frosty neighbors in the region towards greater economic integration? Will second generation Chinese entrepreneurs increase their business with the 36,000 Japanese firms operating in China?

Join us for an inside look at how the economic ties across Asia are shifting.

In this episode, we’re joined by renowned diplomat and scholar, Dr. Chung-in Moon, Professor Emeritus at Yonsei University and former advisor to the South Korean President. Dr. Moon offers rare insight into how President Trump’s sweeping tariffs are reshaping alliances—pushing South Korea, China, and Japan into closer economic coordination.

He also shares a candid analysis of the complex relationship between Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, exploring how their failed meeting in Hanoi affects chances for future diplomacy. With tensions rising and trade dynamics shifting, Dr. Moon helps us understand what’s at stake in Northeast Asia—and what the world should be watching for next.

Stay with us for a timely and thought-provoking conversation.

Narongchai Akrasanee Ph.D spoke with us on President Trump’s Liberation Day. Dr. Akrasanee, Thailand’s former Minister of Energy and Former Minister of Commerce spoke with Dick Drobnick about the implications across the Asia Pacific region.

Ronnie Chan is the Honorary Chairman of The Hang Lung Group and the Chairman of the Asia Society Hong Kong Center. He spoke with Dick Drobnick on the day after President Donald Trump’s Liberation Day tariffs were announced. In this conversation Ronnie looks at the recent events in the US, as viewed from countries across Asia.

Our next episode will feature Dr. Narongchai Akrasanee, a former Minister of Energy and Minister of Commerce of Thailand, one of the initiators of the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement and the APEC Leaders’ Meeting.

Dr. Akrasanee will analyze how ASEAN nations and China are likely to respond to the tariff policies of the Trump Administration.

Dr. Kang Kyung-wha, President of the Asia Society and former Foreign Minister of South Korea, joins Dick Drobnick, Ph.D., for this episode of the Asia Pacific Business Forum Podcast. Their conversation explores Dr. Kang’s vision for the Asia Society and examines how the Trump administration’s policies may influence relations across Asia.

Our next episode will feature Ronnie Chan, Honorary Chairman of the Hang Lung Group and Chairman of the Asia Society Hong Kong Center.

Produced by Dan Griffin - www.ggfilms.com