Japan still leads in Southeast Asia infrastructure race, even as China ramps up belt and road investments: report

Japanese-backed projects in the region’s six largest economies – Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam – are valued at US$367 billion, compared with China’s US$255 billion, the figures show

Reading Time:1 minute

Vietnam is by far the biggest focus for Japan’s infrastructure involvement. Photo: Reuters

Published: 8:17pm, 23 Jun 2019Updated: 3:16pm, 13 Dec 2019

Japan is still leading the Southeast Asia infrastructure race against China, with pending projects worth almost one-and-a-half times its rival, according to the latest data from Fitch Solutions.

Japanese-backed projects in the region’s six largest economies – Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam – are valued at US$367 billion, the figures show. China’s tally is US$255 billion.

The figures underline both the rampant need for infrastructure development in Southeast Asia, as well as Japan’s dominance over China, despite President Xi Jinping’s push to spend on railways and ports via his signature Belt and Road Initiative.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has estimated that Southeast Asia’s economies will need US$210 billion a year in infrastructure investment from 2016 to 2030, just to keep up the momentum in economic growth.

The latest Fitch figures, count only pending projects – those at the stages of planning, feasibility study, tender and currently under construction.

Fitch data in February last year put Japan’s investment at US$230 billion and China’s at US$155 billion.

Vietnam is by far the biggest focus for Japan’s infrastructure involvement, with pending projects worth US$209 billion – more than half of Japan’s total. That includes a US$58.7 billion high-speed railway between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam.