Defending champions India have announced a 15-member squad for the Asia Cup 2025, set to take place in the UAE, as they aim for a record ninth title. The team brings back some familiar faces while also rewarding players who have shone over the past year.

Suryakumar Yadav will captain the side, with Shubman Gill as vice-captain. The squad strikes a balance between youth and experience, featuring consistent performers alongside senior players making their return.

The big news is the comeback of star pacer Jasprit Bumrah, who returns to T20Is after more than a year. He will lead the bowling attack alongside Arshdeep Singh and youngster Harshit Rana.

India’s batting looks solid, with Suryakumar joined by Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, and Rinku Singh, all of whom have been in strong form. In the wicketkeeping department, Sanju Samson is the first choice, with Jitesh Sharma as backup.

The all-round department is powered by Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, and Shivam Dube, while Varun Chakaravarthy and Kuldeep Yadav will handle the spin duties.

India begin their campaign on September 10 against UAE, followed by a blockbuster clash with Pakistan on September 14, and then play Oman on September 19 before moving to the Super Four stage.

India’s Asia Cup 2025 squad:

Suryakumar Yadav (c), Shubman Gill (vc), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson (wk), Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh.

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MANILA– The Philippines is looking to step up in Southeast Asia’s electric vehicle market after selling nearly 19,000 electric cars in 2024. Companies like VinFast are working to solve key problems like charging station access, reliable maintenance, and keeping costs down for buyers.

Vietnam is ahead in the region, selling almost 90,000 electric vehicles in 2024, which makes up about 18 per cent of their total car market. Thailand follows with just over 70,000 EVs sold, or 13 per cent of their car sales. Indonesia saw 49,200 EVs sold for more than 7 per cent of national sales.

The Philippines is behind its neighbours with fewer than 19,000 electric vehicles sold last year. These made up only about 4 per cent of total new car purchases.

The country has a chance to narrow this gap if everyone involved, especially major automakers like VinFast, works together. VinFast’s approach brings a full ecosystem that goes beyond just selling cars, aiming to solve the biggest concerns buyers have.

Regional Strategies Heat Up

Thailand is pushing hard with tax breaks and a goal to make 30 per cent of its vehicles electric by 2030. Indonesia is using its large nickel reserves to draw in battery makers. Vietnam is using VinFast as a springboard for export growth.

The Philippines isn’t standing by. The Electric Vehicle Industry Development Act (EVIDA) from 2022 outlines steps for boosting EV use. These include lower import duties, reserved parking for EVs, and a rule that at least 5 per cent of big fleets must be electric. But the plan doesn’t offer many perks for suppliers or makers, so the rise in EV sales is slow, and the share of new EVs in sales is low.

Relying on imported oil puts extra strain on the economy. MUFG says each $10 increase in oil prices could widen the country’s current-account gap from 3.5 per cent to over 4.5 per cent of GDP, mostly due to more spending on fuel.

The Philippines has also committed to cutting greenhouse gas emissions by up to 75 percent by 2030 under the Paris Agreement. Electric vehicles play a big part in reaching that goal. But for this to work, drivers need affordable and easy-to-maintain zero-emission vehicles. It also takes a network of partners providing charging stations, service centers, and information, not just the cars themselves.

VinFast’s Full-Ecosystem Plan

VinFast’s cars are already on local roads. In July 2024, it opened its first three showrooms in the country. Less than a year later, VinFast became a full member of CAMPI, joining other car makers in local policy talks.

VinFast’s “For a Green Future” plan aims to build a strong support network. It’s teaming up with local dealers to open over 60 new showrooms by year-end. It’s also working with service providers like Goodyear and Tire King, planning to have more than 100 authorised repair shops across the country by 2025. This makes maintenance easier and addresses common worries about where to get an EV fixed.

VinFast kicked off a free charging program with its new VF 6 subcompact model, offering free charging at its network until May 1, 2027. The network, managed by V-GREEN, is set to add 15,000 charging ports across the Philippines in 2025.

The company’s plan tackles three big hurdles: charging access, maintenance, and up-front cost. VinFast eases range worries with more charging stations, covers service through a wide network, and helps on price with a buyback program offering up to 90 percent of the car’s original cost.

Even without a local factory, VinFast’s ecosystem creates jobs in sales, repairs, tech, and charging infrastructure, helping with EVIDA’s targets, cutting city pollution, and reducing oil use.

One challenge is that many people just don’t know what it’s like to own or drive an EV, which is often the biggest barrier. A study from the US found that once people try EVs, their concerns about range, cost, and charging all drop.

To close this gap, VinFast is teaming up with B2B partners and mobility services to make EVs more visible. Green GSM, the country’s first all-electric taxi service, launched on June 10, 2025, running a fleet of VinFast vehicles.

By riding with Green GSM drivers, commuters get firsthand experience with EVs. Conversations with drivers help clear up common questions, show what it’s like to drive electric, and highlight the benefits. This exposure could make more people comfortable with the idea of switching to an EV.

The Philippines may not have its electric vehicle factory yet, but VinFast’s full-ecosystem strategy gives the country a real shot at catching up with its neighbours and moving ahead in the fast-growing Southeast Asian EV market.

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MANILA – At the recent Asia-Pacific Regional Network for Early Childhood (ARNEC) Regional Conference 2025, Tanoto Foundation, a nonprofit organisation supporting change in education and healthcare, shared its early childhood parenting models from Indonesia and China.

These community-based programmes, Rumah Anak SIGAP from Indonesia and the HOPE (Harnessing Opportunity through Parenting and Education) programme from China, highlighted clear methods for helping young children thrive in rural and low-resource settings.

Both projects focus on children aged 0 to 3, a stage marked by significant brain growth. During these years, a young child’s brain can reach 80 per cent of its adult size. Research from the Centre on the Developing Child at Harvard University reports that brain cell development can reach 90 per cent in this stage, building the foundation for how children think, move, communicate, and respond to the world.

This period often brings extra challenges in parts of Asia. Research in 2023 by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) found that 57 per cent of children aged 0 to 3 in parts of Indonesia may not reach their full potential.

It also showed that 26 per cent of these children live with poor caregiving at home. In China, there are similar concerns. A 2019 article in the Journal of Comparative Economics noted that over 80 per cent of young children in rural areas missed at least one key developmental milestone.

Impact in Indonesia: The Rumah Anak SIGAP Programme

The Rumah Anak SIGAP programme in Indonesia has shown strong results. An evaluation found that children in rural areas with early developmental delays saw their scores rise by an average of 1.06 points after joining the programme, compared to a 0.53-point rise among children in cities. By 2024, Rumah Anak SIGAP had reached over 3,000 children and parents through 29 centres in Banten, Central Java, East Kalimantan, Jakarta, and Riau.

Empowering local volunteers is at the heart of this programme. These community members play a key role in making sure the work is relevant and lasting. Ancilla Irwan, Education Development Lead, shared that this partnership with local people and government turns the programme into a strong part of community support for families. The value of this approach was shown by the Mayor of Semarang, Agustina Wilujeng Pramestuti, who spoke at the conference about bringing a Rumah Anak SIGAP centre together with a unit for preventing stunting in her city.

Radi Negara, the Impact Evaluation Lead at Tanoto Foundation, reported, “Of 64 parents interviewed, 59 shared positive changes. They mentioned better breastfeeding, improved nutrition, and stronger connections with their children. The biggest progress often happens at home, where parents start engaging with their children more often and with greater care.”

Scaling Up in China: The HOPE Programme

The HOPE programme in China has grown its community-based model to close gaps in child development. So far, 330 facilitators have been trained and 138 centres opened in Beijing, Guizhou, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, and Shandong. The programme now reaches more than 16,000 children under 3 and their families in rural areas.

Wu Wei, Country Head of Tanoto Foundation China, points out that spending on Early Childhood Development (ECD) helps reduce inequality, stops poverty from passing between generations, and builds the skills China needs for the future.

As a core member of ARNEC, Tanoto Foundation continues to support the network’s mission to improve ECD by building strong partnerships, sharing knowledge, and standing up for children’s rights. During the conference’s closing, Eddy Henry, Head of Policy and Advocacy at Tanoto Foundation, summed up this shared goal:

“This conference shows how working together can spread knowledge, help more voices be heard, and move forward the ECD agenda in the Asia-Pacific region. I hope each group here will take these lessons home, put them into practice, and help shape policy so every child has a fair start and access to quality early childhood development.”

About Tanoto Foundation

Tanoto Foundation works to unlock human potential, support thriving communities, and create lasting change. Founded in 1981 by Sukanto Tanoto and Tinah Bingei Tanoto, the foundation is independent and family-run, focusing on giving everyone the chance to achieve their best.

The foundation drives positive change in education and healthcare, always backing up its work with strong evidence and investing for the long term. Tanoto Foundation believes in developing leaders who can continue to create better opportunities and outcomes for future generations.

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