China’s Silk Road Economic Belt and a 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, an initiative commonly known today as One Belt One Road, has been planned as the largest and most comprehensive development project in human history, directly affecting a population of 4.4 billion people with a collective GDP of 2 trillion dollars. As part of its goals, this initiative aims to address the $800 billion annual financing shortfall in infrastructure investment Asia will be facing in the coming decade with much of the need being in the energy sector: upstream projects, oil and gas pipelines, LNG terminals, high voltage power lines, nuclear power, renewable energy and other energy projects.
With high levels of energy poverty and the pressing need for energy infrastructure investment coupled with the desire for increased regional energy connectivity, ASEAN will be the center of China’s Belt-Road project.
The roundtable will explore ASEAN’s energy investment needs and the opportunities the Belt-Road initiative offers the region. It will also assess the implications of China’s growing engagement in South East Asia for energy security, investment climate and pollution reduction.
The roundtable will focus on the following questions:
- What are the most immediate priorities for energy infrastructure investment and energy connectivity in ASEAN?
- What is the role of China’s newly formed financial institutions, the Silk Road Fund and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), in advancing energy investments in ASEAN?
- What can Asian countries do to form a more effective, more integrated and ‘win-win’ energy market?
Speakers: