2025: The Year in Review
2025 is coming to an end, and what a year it has been!
The inauguration of Trump as the president of the United States for the second time in January has led to a series of drastic policies threatening to upend world affairs as we know it. In April, Trump announced sweeping tariffs that had sent shockwaves around the world. Southeast Asia was no exception, and is still facing tariffs around 10% to 40% after year-long negotiations.
Within the region, border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia erupted into conflict in July and has persisted until recently, despite mediation efforts by the U.S. and Malaysia. Meanwhile, Southeast Asia is witnessing a data center boom due to the rapid AI development, bringing business opportunities but also resource challenges, notably the high energy demand, land use and water consumption by the industry.
Aurora Insights’ journey began in the beginning of this year with a simple goal in mind - to help businesses and organizations understand and navigate the constantly evolving geopolitical landscape in Southeast Asia and the world.
To achieve that, we leveraged our decades of expertise in geopolitical affairs and business consulting to bring you actionable insights. We’re closely watching the development in areas that are in the intersection of geopolitics, businesses and technology; and have covered topics including energy, AI, data centers, tariffs and maritime security.
This year, we’ve travelled to several countries in Asia - Malaysia, India, Thailand & Singapore. It enables us to understand the local landscape and establish our networks, and help us understand the nuances between different countries in the region. We are a big believer in this approach, and have set our minds to visit China, Japan and Indonesia next year.
As we wrapped up the year, we look forward to bringing you better services. In the meantime, we wish you happy holidays and a great year ahead!
Ivy Kwek
Executive Director
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Our Insights
Aurora in Action
Thailand
Our team was in Thailand in November 2025, during which we participated in several key events, including the talk by the Foreign Minister, the 3-in-1 Marine, Oil & Gas, Power Expo, and Digitech ASEAN.
Singapore
Our team was in Singapore in October 2025 to take part in a simulation workshop that looked at potential conflict scenarios in Southeast Asia, organized by the Asia Society Australia.
BBC Chinese: “Questions after the Shangri-la Dialogue”
Our Executive Director Ivy Kwek talked to BBC Chinese about the key outcome of the 2025 Shangri-la Dialogue and the significance of China’s absence.
Astro Awani: “Malaysia-China: Are we Xi-ing eye-to-eye?”
Our Executive Director Ivy Kwek spoke to Astro Awani about the geopolitical and economic significance of China’s President Xi Jinping’s visit to Southeast Asia and Malaysia.
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