Renewable energy investments into #ASEAN are picking up at a tremendous pace. While intraregional disparities persist, intraregional electricity exports are also picking up, meaning ASEAN countries are willing to share clean energy with their neighbors, rendering the green transition a shared regional endeavor. However, this is still at relatively low levels, compared to other regions.
#Vietnam, #Indonesia, and the #Philippines have emerged as the predominant target countries for greenfield #FDI in the #renewables sector among ASEAN countries. Pictures 1 & 2 show the development of renewable energy FDI into member states from 2003 until today.
While Indonesia has long been the top receiving country, Viet Nam has caught up considerably since before the pandemic and is now the top target country for investments in renewables. The country has experienced an increase of 213% in 2018-year-to-date 2023 compared compared to previous five-year-period. Similarly, the Philippines have witnessed an increase of 169% over the same period.
Thailand, having previously featured at the lower end of the spectrum, has established itself over the past five years as one of the strongest players in the field - now ranking fourth in the total period under consideration after a staggering 394% increase in the most recent time frame.
When it comes to the specific business activities that investments in the sector establish or expand, the focus is on electricity generation, followed by manufacturing. However, sales, marketing & support, maintenance & servicing as well as logistics, distribution & transportation have received a fair share of investment.
While investments in biomass power have long been a leading force, wind power in particular (and to a lesser extent solar power) is increasingly dominating the subsectors foreign investors expand into ASEAN with.
🇺🇳United Nations ESCAP is working with The ASEAN Secretariat to support its member states in creating an investment promotion and attraction plan for investments in renewable energy.
If you are in Bangkok next week, join us at the United Nations ESCAP headquarters for our Climate FDI session on how #ASEAN can promote and attract more #ClimateFDI. Learn what investors need - not just climate investors, but also manufacturing investors - to meet their company‘s #netzero targets through #FDI.
ESCAP calculations and infographics based on data from fDi Intelligence of the Financial Times.
