Asia needs to invest around US$3 trillion (€2.37 trillion) in infrastructure over the next decade, but only half of the requirements will likely be met at the current investment rate, an Asian Development Bank official said Monday.
Masahiro Kawai, head of the ADB's Office of Regional Economic Integration, told reporters that while the region has money to foot the bill, it will have to develop a system such as a regional bond market to channel domestic savings to infrastructure needs.
"Our new best estimates are that Asia as a whole would need to invest some US$3 trillion (€2.37 trillion) over the next ten years to keep up with the growing demand for national and cross-border infrastructure _ including transport, telecommunications, energy and water," said Kawai, also a special adviser to ADB President Haruhiko Kuroda.
"At current investment rates, less than half of such demands will be met," he said. "Clearly, the infrastructure gap must be bridged quickly."
Kawai said the Manila-based lender was providing around US$5 billion (€4 billion) each year for infrastructure projects, less than 2 percent of the US$300 billion (€237 billion) needed by the region every year.
"People's savings must be mobilized," he said.
Kawai said by developing a regional bond market, Asia will address both the financing requirements for infrastructure projects and the nagging problem of the global current account imbalance.
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