Southeast Asian governments have rolled out ambitious infrastructure development plans to increase their competitiveness in the global marketplace. This is evident in our stories across various infrastructure sectors – energy (“Investment Plans” and “Abundant Opportunities”) and transport (“Ramping Up”).
To realise the potential, countries have put in place a slew of laws and institutional frameworks to attract investment and promote ease of doing business. Of the ASEAN members, Singapore is ranked among the world’ safest and most stable countries with first rank in terms of the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business 2016. On the other hand, Myanmar remains the lowest-ranked ASEAN member, with the exception of Afghanistan and Bangladesh, the lowest-ranked countries in Asia. Our cover story, “Big Prospects, Big Challenges”, reviews the challenges of doing business in the region and concludes that it is critical to address the bottlenecks of regulation, governance, land acquisition and financing among others to attract investments.
With regard to financing, different countries are at different stages of development and face diverse macroeconomic conditions and endowments. Thus, suitable financing options for infrastructure development will vary. Some of the funding institutions that can be tapped to meet infrastructure funding requirements are the ASEAN Infrastructure Fund, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, China’s Silk Road Infrastructure Fund and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation.
In a major development, the Philippines recently signed the multilateral agreement on air services. With the Philippines signing, all 10 member nations have now signed the agreement; while eight countries, with the exception of Indonesia and Laos, have signed a multilateral agreement for the full liberalisation of passenger air services. On full ratification, Southeast Asia, backed by the open skies policy, is well placed to reap the economic benefits of a strategic regional alliance. It will not only enhance regional and domestic connectivity and endorse tourism, but also amalgamate production networks and promote regional trade and investment, leading member countries on to higher growth trajectories.
Another country in focus is Malaysia. Our story “Leading the Way” highlights key water strategies adopted by Perbadanan Bekalan Air Pulau Pinang to improve its operational performance and service delivery. It is one of the most successful cases of privatisation in the water sector. The success is attributed to several factors such as the decision to utilise a single agency for the provision of all key activities related to water supply, and the continuous financial support and active involvement of the state government.