ASEAN finance leaders end meetings in Laos, pointing to challenges from geopolitics, volatile prices

LUANG PRABANG, Laos (AP) — Southeast Asian economies are gaining ground as tourism and exports recover from the shocks of the pandemic, but geopolitical tensions and volatile commodity prices still pose serious risks, regional financial leaders said Friday.

Laos’ Finance Minister Santiphab Phomvihane read out a joint statement following meetings among finance ministers at a hotel in the Laotian city of Luang Prabang, a UNESCO heritage site, but he made no other remarks and took no questions.

Estimates for economic growth in members of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations vary but are generally near a robust 5% for 2024.

“Nevertheless, there are still challenges due to adverse financial spillovers from geopolitical tensions, volatility in global commodity prices,” Phomvihane said, also pointing to climate change, aging populations and rapid development of digitalization as key factors for the region.

He did not elaborate, but the repercussions of the war in Ukraine and tensions between Washington and Beijing are among the geopolitical risks that have impacted trade and global commodity prices in recent years, trickling down to the smaller ASEAN economies that depend heavily on trade with China.

ASEAN members also include Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. East-Timor is seeking to join.

As ASEAN's most economically challenged economy, excluding its strife-torn neighbor Myanmar, Laos has time to prepare for the aging of its youthful population of about 7.5 million. Some of its neighbors are growing old before they become affluent. The government reckons it is in a demographic sweet spot with a couple of decades to prepare. But it faces a raft of other troubles, with massive foreign debt, a weakening currency and inflation running at about 25%.

In terms of U.S. dollars Laos' economy is shrinking due to the devaluation of its currency, the kip. However, in local currency terms it grew at a 3.7% rate last year and is forecast to expand at a 4% rate in 2024.

“Things are normalizing,” said Winfried F. Wicklein, director general for Southeast Asia for the Asian Development Bank.

But the country is deemed to be in debt distress, with payment obligations exceeding $1 billion a year and total borrowing amounting to about 125% of its economy, with half owed to China.

Chinese financial institutions are believed to have rescheduled payments for about $2 billion in those debts since 2020, helping Laos to avoid an outright default and relieving some pressure on the economy.

“Large chunks of debt repayments owed to China are being pushed into the future with little transparency around the interest and repayment process for this,” said Keith Barney, a professor at Australia National University's Crawford School of Public Policy and who has been researching Laos for more than 20 years.

“The Lao economy is facing serious problems and it’s hard to see an immediately apparent exit route”," he said. “Laos’s debt problems are narrowing its future pathways for economic growth in different ways.”

Still, Laos has acknowledged the seriousness of its debt quandary, allowing the public release of a report by the International Monetary Fund last year that minced no words in outlining urgent actions it said were needed to repair the country's finances, Wicklein noted.

“They realize they have a problem and are open to help. They are inviting you to the kitchen and it means a lot,” he said.

On the sidelines of the ASEAN meetings this week, Laos signed agreements on launching cross-border payments using QR codes, among other incremental steps aimed at integrating its finances and economy into those of its bigger and richer neighbors.

There were no big statements on climate-related issues as the officials met surrounded by forests obscured by thick smoke from hill fires and burning of fields and waste, a seasonal problem that Laos shares with its ASEAN neighbors.

But such meetings allow top financial officials to collaborate in sharing lessons they have learned as they plot strategies on curbing carbon emissions.

“It's a long way to go, but everybody is committed to the same direction,” Wicklein said.

Wicklein pointed to a 600 megawatt monsoon wind power project that will allow Laos to export electricity to neighboring Vietnam as an example of increasing investments in the energy sector beyond Laos' huge hydroelectric power sector.

“These megadeals have a demonstrable effect,” he said.

Smoke from trash burning in a village outside the Lao UNESCO heritage site of Luang Prabang, Laos joins the heavy haze over much of inland Southeast Asia due to crop and waste burning, Saturday, April 6, 2024. ASEAN finance ministers met in Luang Prabang this week to discuss economic and financial issues including ways to help finance reductions in carbon emissions that contribute to global warming. (AP Photo/Elaine Kurtenbach)

Smoke from waste burning and hill fires obscures the view in a village outside the Lao UNESCO heritage site of Luang Prabang, Saturday, April 6, 2024, part of a heavy haze that is blanketing much of inland Southeast Asia. ASEAN finance ministers met in Luang Prabang this week to discuss economic and financial issues including ways to help finance reductions in carbon emissions that contribute to global warming. (AP Photo/Elaine Kurtenbach)

Farmers burn crop waste from a field outside the Lao UNESCO heritage site of Luang Prabang, Saturday, April 6, 2024, adding to the heavy haze over much of inland Southeast Asia in spring months due to crop and waste burning. ASEAN finance ministers met in Luang Prabang this week to discuss economic and financial issues including ways to help finance reductions in carbon emissions that contribute to global warming. (AP Photo/Elaine Kurtenbach)

Smoke from trash burning in a village outside the Lao UNESCO heritage site of Luang Prabang joins the heavy haze over much of inland Southeast Asia due to crop and waste burning, Saturday, April 6, 2024. ASEAN finance ministers met in Luang Prabang this week to discuss economic and financial issues including ways to help finance reductions in carbon emissions that contribute to global warming. (AP Photo/Elaine Kurtenbach)

A farmer tends their fields in stifling temperatures as surrounding hills are choked by smoke from field and hill fires across the region, Thursday, April 4, 2024, in Luang Prabang, Laos. Financial officials of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations were meeting in the city to discuss ways to secure financing to help shift to more sustainable and less polluting agriculture and energy. (AP Photo/Elaine Kurtenbach)

Farmers tend their fields in stifling temperatures as surrounding hills are choked by smoke from field and hill fires across the region, Thursday, April 4, 2024, in Luang Prabang, Laos. Financial officials of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations were meeting in the city to discuss ways to secure financing to help shift to more sustainable and less polluting agriculture and energy. (AP Photo/Elaine Kurtenbach)

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Bradley Cooper rocked a Dr. J jacket from his courtside seat at Game 6. The A-list actor had a few more 76ers fans join him Thursday night for Philadelphia's playoff game against New York — about 2,000 more courtesy of ticket giveaways from Sixers ownership.

The Sixers' strategy heading into Game 6 of their Eastern Conference first-round series was to keep Knicks fans out of Wells Fargo Center on Thursday night.

Team owners Josh Harris, David Blitzer and David Adelman and former minority owner Michael Rubin joined forces Wednesday to buy more than 2,000 tickets they handed out to people who serve the Philadelphia community.

Wells Fargo Center seemed more like Madison Square Garden South during the Knicks' 97-92 win in Game 4 on Sunday, prompting Sixers star Joel Embiid to express frustration about the home-court disadvantage.

On Tuesday, the Sixers won 112-106 in overtime in New York to cut their deficit to 3-2 in the best-of-seven series.

After the 2,000-plus Game 6 tickets were bought in bulk, Rubin announced on social media they would be given to first responders, health care professionals and other Philadelphia-based organizations.

Ali Benner, a registered nurse at Penn Medicine, jumped on a mass email sent to hospital employees offering first-come, first-serve tickets. She got a free pair of seats in section 120 (behind one of the baskets) and attended the game with her boyfriend. Tickets in that section were being offered for about $1,000 for a pair on various secondary markets shortly before tipoff.

“I think I was just quick and lucky,” Benner said, wearing an Allen Iverson T-shirt.

Benner said she was probably going to watch Game 6 at a bar had she not received free tickets.

She said the New York takeover in Game 4 was “kind of sad” but credited Rubin and the Sixers for donating Game 6 tickets to Philadelphia-based organizations.

“I think it's pretty great,” she said. “Next week is Nurses' Appreciation week, so I think it's a really good way to kick it off and show some thanks to the healthcare workers.”

Dawn Staley, coach of the NCAA champion South Carolina women’s basketball team and a Philadelphia native, also asked fans to not sell their tickets to Knicks fans.

“We need everybody’s support, man,” Sixers coach Nick Nurse said.

Game 4 last Sunday in Philadelphia had a decidedly Knicks sound down the stretch.

“The Philadelphia fanbase is, I said this before, they’re very relentless and very passionate. I mean, I’m an Eagles fan, I would know,” said Knicks guard Jalen Brunson, who won two national championships playing collegiately for Villanova. “But seeing the Knicks here and hearing the Knicks here, it was pretty cool and it’s awesome.”

Not for Embiid, who had to hear Brunson get louder chants of “MVP! MVP!” than the guy who actually won the award last season.

“I love our fans but it was unfortunate. I’m not calling them out, but it is disappointing,” Embiid said, adding that he’s aware that Knicks fans often make the short train trip for the road games.

“But never seen it (like Sunday) and I’ve been here for 10 years. Yeah, kind of (ticks) me off, especially because Philly is considered a sports town, so ... I don’t think that should happen. It’s not OK.”

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New York Knicks fans cheer during the first half in Game 1 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers, Saturday, April 20, 2024, at Madison Square Garden in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Philadelphia 76ers head coach Nick Nurse reacts during the first half in Game 1 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series against the New York Knicks, Saturday, April 20, 2024, at Madison Square Garden in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid (21) reacts after a turnover during the second half of Game 5 in an NBA basketball first-round playoff series against the New York Knicks, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid, left, looks to shoot against New York Knicks' Isaiah Hartenstein, right, during the first half of Game 6 in an NBA basketball first-round playoff series, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Actor Bradley Cooper watches warmsups ahead of Game 6 in an NBA basketball first-round playoff series between the Philadelphia 76ers and the New York Knicks, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)