Increase public and private infrastructure
investment in each ASEAN Member State, as
needed.
Following the Asia Financial Crisis of 1997–1998,
a significant infrastructure deficit emerged as
ASEAN Member States sought to rein in current
account deficits and capital account flows. As
a result, investment as a share of GDP has not
returned to pre-1997 levels in most ASEAN
economies. Although both private and Government
infrastructure investment have been ramping up
in recent years, given the scale of infrastructure
needs across ASEAN, there remains a large
challenge ahead. A minimum aspiration could
be for private sector infrastructure spending to
surpass pre-Asia Financial Crisis levels.
Significantly enhance the evaluation and sharing
of best practices on infrastructure productivity
in ASEAN.
Past academic work has found opportunities for
reducing the cost of infrastructure by around 40%
through better project selection, more efficient
delivery and greater accountability, an emphasis
on maximising the life span and capacity of
existing assets, strong infrastructure governance,
and a robust financing framework. ASEAN
Member States vary widely on their performance
in relation to these different elements, suggesting
opportunities to improve productivity through
greater sharing of relevant best practices. As
part of the proposed initiatives in this area, a
new assessment framework and a platform
will be established to measure infrastructure
productivity and share best practices in ASEAN
Member States
Strategic Objective
Support the adoption of technology by micro, small
and medium enterprises (MSMEs)
Support financial access through digital
technologies
Improve open data use in ASEAN Member States
Support enhanced data management in ASEAN
Member States
Increase the deployment of smart urbanisation
models across ASEAN.
The growth of cities across ASEAN is generating
economic momentum—but it also poses
enormous challenges. Although income and
prosperity are rising, many of the region’s cities
are struggling with quality-of-life issues. Some of
the region’s largest cities are feeling the strains of
rapid population growth, which has led to traffic
congestion, pollution, and other urban issues. The
objective is to enhance the rate of deployment of
sustainable urbanisation strategies, particularly
in the growing middleweight cities in ASEAN. To
measure progress against this ambition, it would
be essential to work on sustainability measures
for a range of cities across ASEAN. The initiatives
to achieve these strategic objectives are:
Initiative 1: Establish a Rolling Priority Pipeline
List of Potential ASEAN Infrastructure Projects
and Sources of Funds.
Initiative 2: Establish an ASEAN Platform
to Measure and Improve Infrastructure
Productivity.
Initiative 3: Develop Sustainable Urbanisation
Strategies in ASEAN Cities.
DIGITAL INNOVATION
Disruptive technologies (particularly mobile
Internet, big data, cloud technology, the Internet
of Things, the automation of knowledge work and
social, mobile, analytics and cloud or SMAC) could
unleash some US$220 billion to US$625 billion
in annual economic impact in ASEAN by 2030.
Key Initiative
Enhance the MSME technology platform
Develop the ASEAN digital financial inclusion
framework
Establish an ASEAN open data network
Establish an ASEAN digital data governance
framework
Figure 4
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