The call for more participation and responsibility at a lower level of government has also trimmed the scope and ambitions of governments. Indonesia has decentralized some administrative, legislative, resource management and financial powers from Jakarta to provincial or regency levels since 1 January 2001. Local elections have also taken more importance and significance in China, Taiwan, Japan, Malaysia and the Philippines. The new political economy today has to seriously factor in the rise of peoples power in all aspects of business, from decisions involving the general economic orientation and its policies to the establishment of business frameworks, rules and regulations, and their implementation. This trend of democratization in Asia is changing the region profoundly, as the decision-making process is being devolved to lower local levels.
Local authorities have now to approve business and investment projects.
Protests and demonstrations against commercial interests are now taking place frequently at the local levels. The former big government-big business collusion in running the political economy is in fact being replaced by a diffusion of power centres, not only politically but also economically, thanks to decentralization within the country and the forces of globalization externally. This in turn creates a new dynamics in doing business and in creating economic growth in Asia. The illegal trade of small arms and weapons in South Asia. Designed by MediaCorp Interactive.