Standard Chartered Bank’s chief information officer for India talks to Joy Macknight about using artificial intelligence and big data to uncover new business opportunities, as well as attracting tech talent in a highly competitive market.  

Private equity funds in Vietnam are proving themselves invaluable as more of the country’s state-owned enterprises are privatised. Peter Janssen reports.

Languishing down the development table, land-locked Laos is investing heavily in a joint venture to build a rail link between its capital and the Chinese border. Peter Janssen reports.

Bangladesh’s finance minister, Abul Maal Abdul Muhith, talks to Stefania Palma about the local banking sector, the current account deficit and government revenue, ahead of stepping down at the end of 2018, after a decade at the ministry.

Indebtedness to China has obliged Sri Lanka to hand over a major port to its financier. Is this an emerging pattern in Asia? Nikkei staff writer Yuji Kuronuma reports. 

China’s Belt and Road Initiative is set to include the first high-speed railway in Indonesia, but questions linger on the funding prospects for the $6bn project. Nikkei staff writer Erwida Maulia reports.

China and Kazakhstan have signed many agreements for the Belt and Road Initiative but tangible projects have yet to materialise. Chinese investors blame red tape, while Kazakhs express concern over land reforms and the environment, as Nikkei Asian Review contributing writer Naubet Bisenov reports.

Amid the China-funded infrastructure push in Pakistan, concerns are starting to mount about rising deficits. Go Yamada, Nikkei senior deputy editor, reports.

The finance minister of India, Arun Jaitley, tells Stefania Palma about the newly announced budget, as well as the state of the country’s banking sector following the alleged fraud at Punjab National Bank. 

While Singapore’s largest banks still head The Banker’s Top 100 Asean ranking, Indonesian lenders have registered strong Tier 1 capital growth and Cambodia leads in pre-tax profits. Stefania Palma reports.