Australia announces a $1.3B investment fund with ASEAN

P.M. Anthony Albanese announced Australia would create a $2 billion Australian dollar ($1.3 billion) fund to promote trade and two-way investment with Southeast Asia.

Projects related to infrastructure and the shift to a green economy will be the main emphasis of the Southeast Asia Investment Financing Facility. Albanese praised Australia as an "exporter of knowledge and a sharer of expertise," adding that he wanted to ensure that Southeast Asian businesses could access the Australian market.

Projects related to infrastructure and the shift to a green economy will be the main emphasis of the Southeast Asia Investment Financing Facility. Albanese praised Australia as an "exporter of knowledge and a sharer of expertise," adding that he wanted to ensure that Southeast Asian businesses could access the Australian market.

Projects related to infrastructure and the shift to a green economy will be the main emphasis of the Southeast Asia Investment Financing Facility. Albanese praised Australia as an "exporter of knowledge and a sharer of expertise," adding that he wanted to ensure that Southeast Asian businesses could access the Australian market.

According to Albanese, Australia's two-way trade with ASEAN in 2022 was over AU$178 billion, which was greater than its trade with the US or Japan. Additionally, there was AU$307 billion in two-way investment between the region and Australia.

Australia's Partnerships for Infrastructure Program, which assists Southeast Asian governments in delivering projects with planning and procurement expertise, will receive an additional $140 million in Australian dollars in addition to the new fund.

Invested: Australia's Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040" included the investment financing facility as one of its suggestions. Export Finance Australia will oversee the institution. Australia's special ambassador for Southeast Asia, Nicholas Moore, wrote the report and stated that the country's foreign direct investment in the region had stayed "modest," with investor views of risk acting as a deterrent.

The institution will support projects that increase Australian trade and investment in Southeast Asia with loans, guarantees, equity, and insurance. According to Moore, its establishment will ease worries about conducting business in the area.