Guanie Lim

Guanie Lim

Assistant Professor, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, Japan

Guanie Lim is an assistant professor at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS), Japan. His main research interests are comparative political economy, value chain analysis and the Belt and Road Initiative in Southeast Asia. He is also interested in broader development issues within Asia, especially those concerning China, Vietnam and Malaysia.

This picture taken on 2 December 2022 shows an employee working inside a packaging factory of Nam Thai Son Group in Ho Chi Minh City. (Nhac Nguyen/AFP)

Chinese investment and diversion of investment from China: Opportunities abound for Vietnam

While some Vietnamese are wary of Chinese investments, others see it as a good opportunity for their companies, especially SMEs to upgrade and upskill. With new opportunities afforded by investments from countries looking to diversify their supply chains from China, SMEs should be given a boost by the Vietnamese government in order for Vietnam to make the most out of the influx of capital.
Toyota Motor Corporation's cars are seen at a briefing on the company's strategies on battery EVs in Tokyo, Japan, 14 December 2021. (Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)

Japan and China: Growing economic interdependence amid decoupling talks

Academics Guanie Lim and Chengwei Xu examine the close interdependence of Japanese and Chinese firms through the case study of Toyota. Amid the talk of geopolitical tensions accelerating the risk of decoupling, some hard facts may put things into perspective.
The only road leading to Semoi village, in the regency of Penajam Paser Utara, in East Kalimantan Province, Indonesia. (SPH Media)

Can Chinese capital and technologies jumpstart economic development in Borneo?

Malaysian academics Goh Chun Sheng and Guanie Lim observe China’s strong presence in the upstream and downstream sectors of developing Nusantara, the envisaged new capital of Indonesia in East Kalimantan on the island of Borneo, allowing for potential cooperation between China, Indonesia and Malaysia. Could this be the start of greater China-led cross-border collaborations in the region?
This photo taken on 22 September 2021 shows fishermen on their boat as smoke rises from chimneys at the Suralaya coal power plant in Cilegon. (Ronald Siagian/AFP)

In Indonesia, Chinese financing for coal-fired power plants grows faster than that for renewables

On the one hand, China’s potential in helping Indonesia make the clean energy transition has been spoken about, but on the other, China continues to be a big player in perpetuating non-renewable energy use such as in coal-fired power plants. Looking ahead, can they be a larger contributor in Indonesia’s efforts to derive 23% of Indonesia’s primary energy needs from renewable sources by 2025? Malaysian academics Guanie Lim and Goh Chun Seng tell us more.