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ASEAN plans to launch infrastructure fund

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-11-11 19:53

SINGAPORE: Southeast Asian nations are in talks to establish a fund to channel their massive currency reserves to finance the much-needed infrastructure projects in the region, finance ministers said Wednesday.

Thai Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij said the topic will be discussed among finance ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and ranking officials from the regional multilateral development lender at the on-going 17th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders' Week meetings in Singapore.

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He said ASEAN ministers are still discussing the structure of the fund and have yet to decide on its scale. And the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is initially eyed to provide financial backing and credit enhancement -- critical elements to make the fund work.

Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati also confirmed the talks and said such a move is very "logical" as the Southeast Asian nations can now invest their excessive savings into the infrastructure projects at home rather than buying US Treasury bills, which is blamed for causing the global imbalance that created conditions for the current financial crisis.

She said the idea of a regional infrastructure fund is not new but the global recession has accelerated the setup process.

Attending an investment summit with some of the ASEAN finance ministers on the sidelines of the APEC meetings, ADB President Haruhiko Kuroda said the infrastructure requirement in the region could soar to a staggering $7.5 billion a year by 2020. And the huge gap in infrastructure financing needs an active participation of the private sector.

Kuroda said private investment accounts for only 20 percent of the region's infrastructure financing.