The Monocle Minute

European luxury brands are wrapping up a bruising 12 months of business in Asia with a glimmer of optimism for the year ahead. Stimulus measures by China’s central government should gradually revive consumption in 2025, while fashion houses and jewellery designers will welcome the creative possibilities of the forthcoming year of the snake in late January – a major shopping event. As serpent motifs and python prints prepare to fly off the rack from Beijing to Hong Kong, fun-loving shoppers in Bangkok have an extra reason to buy a new outfit. Thailand’s same-sex marriage law comes into effect next month. The legislation will set the stage for hundreds of celebratory unions and cement the Thai capital as the region’s favourite LGBT destination.

China’s president, Xi Jinping, is expected to be one of the many millions of visitors to Thailand next year, albeit to mark another milestone: 50 years of diplomatic relations between the two nations. The results of behind-closed-doors conversations about their shared neighbour, Myanmar, could nudge the military junta in Naypyidaw towards the negotiating table. Next month, Malaysia will be in the revolving chair of The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), which should have more of a voice on Myanmar’s civil war, but dealing with Beijing will continue to challenge the regional body’s consensus-driven approach.

The third-and-final season of the much-anticipated Squid Game is slated to drop next year and talk of South Korea in 2025 should gradually return to soft power instead of martial law. The real-life dramas in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will also be watched closely as these two South Asian democracies attempt to move beyond recent economic and political strife. Bangladesh’s interim leader, Muhammad Yunus, will be wise to get a move on with elections (currently expected in late 2025 or early 2026) to replace Sheikh Hasina, who was removed in August.

During a relatively quiet year for democracy in Asia, Australia’s federal election in 2025 could end up being the most consequential for the region. The country’s minister for foreign affairs, Penny Wong, has reset relations with Beijing and a second term for prime minister Anthony Albanese’s Labor Party would be a win for Asia at a time when US foreign policy under Donald Trump is expected to go into retreat.

James Chambers is Monocle's Asia editor, based in Bangkok. For more opinion, analysis and insight, subscribe to Monocle today.

Havana’s traffic might be best known for its classic cars but commuters are increasingly getting around in electric tricycles, cargo trucks and cars. “It is only very recently that people in Cuba realised that it’s much better to have an EV,” says Mark Manger, a professor of political economy at the University of Toronto. Part of the appeal comes from the vehicles’ small size and low maintenance costs, as well as the distance that they can cover.

“You can drive 100km on one charge, which is enough for wherever you need to go,” says Manger. A recent change in legislation has allowed private individuals to import EVs but domestic production is ramping up too. According to government figures, some 23,000 were manufactured between 2020 and 2022. “The demand comes from a mixture of opportunity and necessity,” says Manger. “There is often pressure on Cubans to solve their daily problems on their own. That’s why so many people are making the switch.”

For more opportunity-led stories and unlikely finds for the year ahead, pick up a copy of‘The Forecast’, which is out now.

Once a hub for Roman shipbuilding and trade, Andalusia’s industrial legacy continues to grow – though its achievements today are less on the water than in the air. Thanks largely to the presence of Airbus, the region is crucial to Spain’s aerospace ambitions. The company, which employs about 3,400 people in Cádiz and Seville, assembles advanced aircraft (such as the A400M and the tactical C295) in the region’s factories. Airbus Spain was born of the merger in 1971 between two homegrown enterprises, Construcciones Aeronáuticas SA and Hispano Aviación, which consolidated more than 50 years’ of the country’s experience in engineering and aviation.

In 2019, Airbus Spain accounted for 60 per cent of Spain’s aerospace and defence exports; the company reported a revenue of €6.08bn in 2023. “We Andalusians are generally nonconformists,” says Luis Marmolejo Vidal, the head of its light transport aircraft, flight line and delivery centre, during Monocle’s recent visit. “We like to feel proud of what we do. I believe that this is why there has been such a strong push to create a state-of-the-art industry in the region.”

For our full report on Andalusia’s thriving aviation industry, pick up a copy of Monocle’sDecember/January issue, which is out now.

As the year draws to a close, Monocle editors were tasked with picking their favourite photograph from all the trips and stories covered in our Affairs pages. This one, depicting two first responders wearing biohazard suits inside a bar, was taken during Monocle’s trip to Alabama in April. Set within the grounds of an old military complex run by the US Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema), this series of props and training equipment is used to train emergency responders of all kinds.

French newspaper kiosks might have evolved but they still play a key role in the life of Paris. And there’s one that has become a star in its own right – Le Kiosque de Paris, in front of Le Bon Marché. It’s run by the brothers Médéric and Nicolas Bogo, who are following in the footsteps of their great-grandparents, grandparents and parents. And it’s not just the line-up of titles that pulls in so many regulars – and passers-by – but also the siblings’ rich knowledge about the publications that they sell and the time they take to talk to their customers.