Oanh Ha

But wealthier countries are playing a very different game.

Instead of asking citizens to cut back, the countries who can afford it are spending heavily to absorb the sticker shock at the pump.

You know, here in Hong Kong, the government is actually putting aside the equivalent of 230 million U.S.

dollars in a subsidy program to help manage soaring fuel prices.

It does seem like there's this imbalance in how the burden of the conflict is being carried, right?

You've got developed economies like Hong Kong and Germany able to afford these subsidies, while you've got emerging countries who literally can't keep the lights on.

What do you guys make of that disparity?

And I guess the question is, is this something U.S.

policymakers even think about?

They're going to lose that buffer pretty soon.

And I think Asia does seem caught in this trap that really is not of its own making, right?

You've got interest rates that are rising globally, of course, driven by the war shocks and the AI investment boom centered in the U.S.

and the West.

You've got the U.S.

dollar really strong right now.

What do you think is the impact of the U.S.

dollar strengthening on emerging Asian economies?

Yeah, and to your point, Asia is the backbone of the global AI ecosystem.

Factories here produce the chips that power the AI revolution.

But those factories rely heavily on energy and raw materials, right?