evidence: We have raised our regional growth forecast for this year to 4.5 percent, up 0.3 percentage point from six months earlier, after a 5 percent expansion in 2023. The revision reflects upgrades for China, where we expect policy stimulus to provide support, and India, where public investment remains an important driver, making it the world’s fastest-growing major economy. In a still subdued external environment, robust private consumption will remain the main growth driver in Asia’s other emerging market economies. The Asia growth forecast for 2025 is unchanged at 4.3 percent. [...] For Asia’s economies these are unfortunate developments, as many of them are deeply integrated into global supply chains and benefit greatly from trade. Hence policymakers should be cautious to not aggravate trade frictions themselves. For example, we also observe an increasing tendency to implement industrial policy measures. Even though these measures pursue a wide range of objectives, they often include trade-distorting elements. Careful design is needed to avoid unintended side-effects—notably greater fragmentation—and to remain consistent with World Trade Organization rules. Beyond the short term, population aging, slowing productivity growth, and new technologies such as artificial intelligence confront policymakers in Asia with important challenges. While policy responses need to be tailored to country circumstances, there’s a common need to invest in capital, digital infrastructure, and workforce skills, to preserve Asia’s role as growth engine of the world economy.