Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2013-10-21
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| Buses on the first Sino-Vietnam highway, which links southwest China's Yunnan province and Vietnam. (Photo/Xinhua) |
China is
pushing for cooperation with Southeast Asian nations in infrastructural
investments to foster closer links with the regional economy, reports Beijing's
Economic Observer.
During a
meeting with Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Jakarta in early
October, China's president Xi Jinping proposed the establishment of an
"Asian infrastructural investment bank," aiming to fund
infrastructural projects between Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
member nations and other countries in the region.
China's
premier Li Keqiang, meanwhile, expressed China's willingness to deepen
relations and cooperate with countries in the region during his Oct. 9-15 trip
to Brunei, Thailand, and Vietnam. He also announced plans to build a high-speed
rail reaching Southeast Asia.
"Once
the projected China-South Asia hi-speed rail is built, all the way to
Singapore, trading activities and logistics operations will emerge along the
route," said Wang Yigui, a professor from the School of International
Studies at Beijing's Renmin University of China. Wang added that Southeast Asia
has a great need for infrastructural investments, which can be a powerful
driver for their economies amid the global economic slowdown.
Indonesian
president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono responded enthusiastically to the Chinese
overture, saying during the recent Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
summit on Oct. 6, that heavy infrastructural investments are needed to improve
a low-efficiency supply chain and facilitate cross-border trade and services,
which would not only stimulate the economy but also create jobs.
James
Gagne, CEO of Agility Logistics, said the company has scored a 10% growth in
emerging markets in recent years, much higher than the industry average,
attributing the exceptional performance to marked improvement in
infrastructural facilities in Southeast Asia.
Many
economists and entrepreneurs believe infrastructural facilities will be a major
growth driver for emerging markets in coming years. Hemant Kanoria, managing
director of the India-based SREI Infrastructure Finance, said that India has a
great need for investment in such infrastructural facilities as highways,
power, and water supply. He added that there is a funding shortfall of US$18
billion this year, an opportunity which has caught the eyes of private equity
funds worldwide.
Meanwhile,
other East Asian nations, such as Cambodia, are also in dire need of
infrastructural investments, forming a favorable setting for the establishment
of the Asian infrastructural investment bank, according to Li Wei, also a
Renmin University of China professor.
Observers
are upbeat over cooperation between China and Asian nations in infrastructure
project, as the former has a need for overseas investments due to its huge
forex reserves and overcapacities, while the latter are actively seeking
foreign investment in infrastructural facilities in a bid to invigorate the
economy, create jobs, and create an improved setting for external trade, the
paper said.
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