The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Economic Forum (WEF) today signed an agreement to accelerate the flow of public and private finance into sustainable infrastructure in Southeast Asia through an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) hub for the Sustainable Development Investment Partnership (SDIP).
The agreement, which will support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in the region, was signed at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting of the Global Future Councils in Dubai attended by ADB Director General for Southeast Asia Mr. Ramesh Subramaniam as a member of the Global Future Council on Development Finance and WEF’s Mr. Justin Wood, Head of Regional Agenda Asia Pacific and Member of the Executive Committee.
SDIP, established at the United Nations Conference on Financing for Development in July 2015 in Addis Ababa and hosted jointly by WEF and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, has adopted a regional approach and founded the SDIP ASEAN Hub to mobilize sustainable investments in emerging and developing economies, with the goal of facilitating systemic changes in development financing.
“As Southeast Asia faces a huge financing gap in sustainable infrastructure, it is vital to expand the use of private capital funds, which can also bring advanced technologies and management efficiencies to development financing,” said Mr. Subramaniam. “In particular, we need to accelerate the use of public and private financing to build climate-resilient infrastructure and provide equitable and environmentally and financially sustainable growth that the region needs.”
“Under the agreement, ADB and the Forum will support the ASEAN Hub’s efforts to develop a strategy and a list of activities, including knowledge sharing among public and private sectors and policy proposals for areas needing development finance. Supporting local decision making with global best practices is key to boosting the flow of capital into investments that advance sustainable development, including important infrastructure projects,” said Mr. Wood. “The ADB–World Economic Forum agreement will allow SDIP’s ASEAN Hub to expand its capacity to work with diverse stakeholders, including international financiers, development finance institutions, private funds, and governments, to create the conditions for increasing and accelerating sustainable investments in ASEAN.”
The World Economic Forum, committed to improving the state of the world, is an international organization for public–private cooperation. WEF engages the foremost political, business, and other leaders of society to shape global, regional, and industry agendas.