Bleak

To underscore its continuing commitment to the nations of South-East Asia, ING Barings trotted out four country research heads yesterday at the close of a two-week investor client conference in Hong Kong. The start of the year is the time when investment banks stake out their claims of expertise, and we’ve been hearing a lot about the interesting markets of North Asia. Barings chose instead to bring attention to Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia.