Its acid-bright houses are home to the city's Cape Malay community - descendants of people from India, Malaysia and other South East Asian countries who settled the area as early as the 17th century - and the cuisine is a spicy, aromatic, and sometimes strange, mix of Asian, European and Mediterranean flavours.

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Since China and Malaysia peg their currencies to the dollar, and many other Asian countries track it closely, Japan and the euro area would bear the brunt of the dollar's fall.

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Beijing has agreed a host of energy deals with other countries in the past year, including Venezuela and Malaysia, and is currently negotiating with Iran over gas imports.

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Other non-Western countries, from Brazil and Turkey to Malaysia and India, are following its lead.

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Other countries in the region who have gone through the same transition, such as Malaysia and Singapore, have witnessed impressive developments.

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But like other countries that have succeeded in reaping the benefits of globalisation eg, Vietnam, Malaysia and Mauritius it has combined export promotion with a judicious mix of selective protection and controls on capital markets.

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Transparency International ranks the nation 95 in a list of 180 countries in its Corruption Perception Index, worse than several other emerging Asian rivals like China and Malaysia.

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