Vietnam's Communists School Indonesia's Capitalists on Economy

Vietnam and the Philippines are set to reap the rewards of diversifying their exports, helping fireproof the two economies from plunging commodity prices. Indonesia and Malaysia's failure to do so now represents a risk to Asia's 2016 outlook.

Two decades ago, commodities were about 50 percent of overseas shipments for both Vietnam and Indonesia . By 2014, Vietnam had cut that to less than 30 percent while Indonesia's was almost 60 percent. In the Philippines, a net commodity importer, the ratio was about 20 percent last year.