Indonesia regional polls, India GDP, Taiwan’s Lai goes abroad

Indonesia kicks off regional elections Wednesday to pick provincial governors, city mayors and regents across the world’s third-biggest democracy. South Korea hosts a U.N. conference on plastic pollution while a supply chain expo starts in Beijing.

China reports key factory activity data, Vietnamese electric car maker VinFast announces its latest earnings and India posts fiscal second-quarter GDP figures. Japan’s newly elected lawmakers return to the Diet after snap elections last month, while Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te is heading abroad on a trip that could anger China.

Malaysian leader in South Korea

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim meets his South Korean counterpart, Yoon Suk Yeol, during a three-day official visit expected to see bilateral ties elevated to a strategic partnership. The two countries are aiming to finalize a free trade agreement in 2025.

Asia-Pacific policymakers and industry leaders gather near Seoul to address challenges in wind energy development as concern grows about how the sector will be impacted under a second Trump presidency in the United States. The three-day APAC Wind Energy Summit, hosted by the Global Wind Energy Council, highlights the region’s key role in hitting global targets to triple renewable energy capacity by 2030.

China supply chain show

Beijing hosts the second China International Supply Chain Expo, at a time of strain and shifts in the links that connect global manufacturing. The event will cover advanced factory technology, smart vehicles and other fields.

U.N. plastic pollution meeting

The U.N. Environment Programme will convene the fifth session of its Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee in the South Korean city of Busan in pursuit of an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution. Environmentalists say policymakers need to commit to cutting production of plastic, not just reusing or recycling it. A lack of consensus on finer details and opposition from major petroleum-producing countries could hinder efforts to reach an agreement.

Indonesia regional polls

Indonesians vote in nationwide regional polls to elect provincial governors, city leaders and regents. More than 3,000 candidates are set to compete across nearly 550 regions, including in the newly formed provinces South Papua, Central Papua and Highland Papua. All eyes are on new leadership for the capital Jakarta, as well as Central Java and East Java provinces, which together account for over half of the national economy.