Taipei, Taiwan – Governments and businesses across Southeast Asia are scrambling to stave off energy shortages as the Strait of Hormuz remains shut to maritime traffic, amid the fallout of the United States-Israeli war on Iran.Thousands of kilometres away from the Gulf, government offices in the Philippines have moved to a four-day work week, officials in Thailand and Vietnam have been encouraged to work from home and limit travel, and Myanmar’s government has imposed alternating driving days.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listGovernments are also intervening directly in the market in an effort to stabilise fuel prices.Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul announced a temporary price cap on diesel, while Vietnam said it had started tapping into its fuel price stabilisation fund, according to state media.The measures are just a preview of what is to come in the region if the Strait remains closed, according to Priyanka Kishore, director and principal economist at Asia Decoded in Singapore.“They’re trying to manage the supply situation before it even comes close to hitting them,” Kishore told Al Jazeera.Despite holding substantial amounts of fossil fuels, Southeast Asia relies heavily on imported oil and gas, much of which passes through the Strait of Hormuz.About 84 percent of the …
