Japan is facing a shortage of Japanese language teachers for foreign workers as the country prepares to introduce a new worker acceptance system next April.
LNG was adopted across Southeast Asia after 2022 as a hedge against future supply shocks. That hedge has now failed twice. The region is reassessing what energy security actually requires.
No reserve release addresses the LNG gap. For gas-dependent grids in Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines, the shortage is structural until Hormuz reopens.
At a March 11 Senate hearing, the Petroleum Association of the Philippines cited a ₱5.50/kWh gap between Malampaya gas and imported LNG as grounds for shifting fuel priorities amid the global supply crisis.
GE Vernova announced a $200 million HVDC transformer plant in Hai Phong on March 10, making Vietnam only the third country globally to host this manufacturing capability alongside the UK and India.