Cobra Gold military exercise, South Korean birth rate, India GDP

Welcome to Your Week in Asia.

Monday will see the start of Cobra Gold 2024, a multinational military exercise in Thailand intended to enhance regional interoperability.

Hong Kong will announce its budget for 2024/25 on Wednesday.

On Thursday, India will release its GDP for the October-December quarter, and South Korea is going to publish its birth rate for 2023, which is expected to decline further from 0.78 in 2022.

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MONDAY

Thailand, U.S. begin Cobra Gold exercise

Southeast Asia's longest-running military exercise kicks off on Monday until March 8 with 30 participating countries, including co-hosts Thailand and the U.S. Each of the hosts will have more than 4,000 troops in the main drills with Singapore, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea and Malaysia participating. China and India will join humanitarian assistance training exercises.

China prepares for annual legislative session

China's top legislature, the National People's Congress Standing Committee, is set to commence a two-day meeting to finalize the agenda for the annual meeting starting on March 5. The agenda includes national budget and socio-economic development plans for 2024 that will be announced on the eve of the annual parliamentary session.

Mobile World Congress begins in Barcelona

A global showcase for cutting-edge connectivity and wireless technologies, Mobile World Congress will see industry giants in mobile chips, telecoms, cloud and related devices unveil their latest offerings. In 2024, the spotlight will be on two key themes: harnessing generative AI across different industries and showcasing AI-powered advancements in servers, PCs, smartphones and