[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-40587-en":3,"doc-seo-40587-105":29,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":91},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":20,"is_downloadable":20,"audit_status":20,"page_count":21,"language":22,"language_code":23,"site_id":24,"html_lang":23,"table_of_contents":25,"faqs":26,"seo_title":13,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":27,"read_time":28},40587,13056703019404,"Miles","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_29158cc5080c5b710cf443261637dec0",8,"Research & Report","Mobilizing the Indo-Pacific Infrastructure Response to China’s Belt and Road Initiative in Southeast Asia","The policy brief examines how China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has expanded infrastructure financing in Southeast Asia and why this has driven other major powers to redesign their overseas infrastructure agendas. It evaluates the sustainability and governance risks associated with China’s model and considers pressures from persistent infrastructure financing gaps and weak global growth. In response, it argues that a private-capital mobilization strategy alone is unlikely to match BRI’s scale or timeliness, especially during post-COVID recovery, and proposes practical competitiveness and project-banking, technical-assistance, and multilateral-bank options.","MOBILIZING THE INDO-PACIFIC INFRASTRUCTURE RESPONSE TO CHINA’S BELT AND ROAD INITIATIVE IN SOUTHEAST ASIA  \nROLAND RAJAH  \nAPRIL 2020  \nEXECUTIVE SUMMARY  \nChina has become a significant financier of major infrastructure projects in Southeast Asia under the banner of its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) . This has prompted renewed interest in the sustainable infrastructure agenda in Southeast Asia from other major powers. In response, the United States, Japan, and Australia are actively seeking to coordinate their own revamped overseas infrastructure efforts as part of a trilateral arrangement aimed at upholding a free and open Indo-Pacific.  \nThough principally motivated by geostrategic concerns, such international policy efforts are also well-justified on economic grounds — given the persistence of Southeast Asia’s large infrastructure financing gap, low world interest rates, and concerns about structurally weak global economic growth. In addition, China’s approach to infrastructure poses clear risks to governance, as well as economic, environmental, and social sustainability in the region. Finally, at the time of writing, the COVID-19 virus has unleashed a global health and economic pandemic of enormous proportions. Policymakers are currently focused on containing the health and economic damage of the virus. However, as the priority shifts to the post-crisis recovery, this inevitably will see focus return to the sustainable infrastructure agenda—with Southeast Asian governments looking for willing partners to assist.  \nThe current approach of the trilateral partners, however, is likely to fall short in its ambition to provide a credible response to China’s BRI. The present emphasis on mobilizing more private capital for infrastructure development cannot deliver the kind of dividends needed to compete with the scale of China’s BRI. Nor is an emphasis on high infrastructure standards likely to deter Southeast Asian governments from taking on Chinese projects as long as China continues to be perceived as offering faster, less risk-averse, and more responsive support compared to alternatives available from traditional partners.  \nThis policy brief makes several practical recommendations that would allow the trilateral partners to compete more effectively with China while simultaneously promoting more sustainable development outcomes. This includes increasing efforts to expand the pool of bankable projects and providing technical assistance to help Southeast Asian governments to better manage any BRI projects they might take on—particularly via the multilateral development banks, which can act as politically neutral technical arbiters. Meanwhile, the trilateral partners need to improve the competitiveness of their own infrastructure approaches to be more streamlined, less risk-averse, and more fit-for-purpose. This could be a useful part of the agenda for the new Blue Dot Network. More ambition is also needed. Contrary to the assumption that it impossible to match China’s financing scale, estimates presented in  \n1  \nthis policy brief suggest that the gap is not that large— implying the trilateral partners can indeed keep pace if they are willing to direct adequate budgetary resources to the task. Finally, Australia is currently the only trilateral partner without access to the full range of development financing instruments and should consider options for addressing this gap in its capabilities.  \nINTRODUCTION  \nThe sustainable infrastructure agenda in Southeast Asia has taken on increased prominence in recent years. China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) promises a major increase in available funds to help plug the global infrastructure financing gap, including in Southeast Asia. It has also made international infrastructure efforts vastly more contentious. Early enthusiasm from governments participating in BRI has been replaced with greater caution about the risks. At the same time, there is much geopolitical angst, particularl","cbCaitAMO16PhCJq","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaitAMO16PhCJq","pdf",721053,1,15,"English","en",105,"# Executive Summary\n# Introduction\n## The sustainable infrastructure agenda and BRI momentum\n## Trilateral responses and blended finance approach\n## Core question for effectiveness","[{\"question\":\"Why did other powers renew attention to sustainable infrastructure in Southeast Asia?\",\"answer\":\"China’s expanded financing of major infrastructure projects through BRI increased urgency and competition, prompting renewed interest in sustainable infrastructure agendas by other major powers, alongside rising concern over BRI-related risks.\"},{\"question\":\"What challenges does the policy brief identify with the trilateral approach?\",\"answer\":\"It argues that focusing on mobilizing more private capital is unlikely to deliver the scale needed to compete with China’s BRI, and that higher infrastructure standards may not deter Southeast Asian governments if Chinese support is perceived as faster and more responsive.\"},{\"question\":\"What recommendations does the brief propose to respond more effectively to BRI?\",\"answer\":\"It recommends expanding the pool of bankable projects, providing technical assistance to help Southeast Asian governments manage potential BRI projects—especially via politically neutral multilateral development banks—and improving the trilateral partners’ infrastructure competitiveness through more streamlined, less risk-averse, fit-for-purpose approaches.\"}]",1783313202,38,{"code":4,"msg":30,"data":31},"ok",{"site_id":24,"language":23,"slug":32,"title":13,"keywords":33,"description":14,"schema_data":34,"social_meta":86,"head_meta":88,"extra_data":90,"updated_unix":27},"mobilizing-the-indo-pacific-infrastructure-response-to-chinas-belt-and-road-initiative-in-southeast-asia","",{"@graph":35,"@context":85},[36,53,68],{"@type":37,"itemListElement":38},"BreadcrumbList",[39,43,47,50],{"item":40,"name":41,"@type":42,"position":20},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":44,"name":45,"@type":42,"position":46},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":48,"name":12,"@type":42,"position":49},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":51,"name":13,"@type":42,"position":52},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/mobilizing-the-indo-pacific-infrastructure-response-to-chinas-belt-and-road-initiative-in-southeast-asia/40587/",4,{"url":51,"name":13,"@type":54,"author":55,"headline":13,"publisher":57,"fileFormat":60,"inLanguage":23,"description":14,"dateModified":61,"datePublished":62,"encodingFormat":60,"isAccessibleForFree":63,"interactionStatistic":64},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":56},"Person",{"url":40,"name":58,"@type":59},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-07-13","2026-07-06",true,{"@type":65,"interactionType":66,"userInteractionCount":20},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":67},"ViewAction",{"@type":69,"mainEntity":70},"FAQPage",[71,77,81],{"name":72,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":74},"Why did other powers renew attention to sustainable infrastructure in Southeast Asia?","Question",{"text":75,"@type":76},"China’s expanded financing of major infrastructure projects through BRI increased urgency and competition, prompting renewed interest in sustainable infrastructure agendas by other major powers, alongside rising concern over BRI-related risks.","Answer",{"name":78,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":79},"What challenges does the policy brief identify with the trilateral approach?",{"text":80,"@type":76},"It argues that focusing on mobilizing more private capital is unlikely to deliver the scale needed to compete with China’s BRI, and that higher infrastructure standards may not deter Southeast Asian governments if Chinese support is perceived as faster and more responsive.",{"name":82,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":83},"What recommendations does the brief propose to respond more effectively to BRI?",{"text":84,"@type":76},"It recommends expanding the pool of bankable projects, providing technical assistance to help Southeast Asian governments manage potential BRI projects—especially via politically neutral multilateral development banks—and improving the trilateral partners’ infrastructure competitiveness through more streamlined, less risk-averse, fit-for-purpose approaches.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":51,"og:type":87,"og:title":13,"og:site_name":58,"og:description":14},"article",{"robots":89,"canonical":51},"index,follow",{"doc_id":7,"site_id":24},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":92},[93,97,101,105,110,115,120,123,128,131,135],{"id":20,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":94,"show_sort_weight":95,"slug":96},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":98,"show_sort_weight":99,"slug":100},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":112,"show_sort_weight":113,"slug":114},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":116,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":117,"show_sort_weight":118,"slug":119},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":11,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":12,"show_sort_weight":121,"slug":122},30,"research-report",{"id":124,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":125,"show_sort_weight":126,"slug":127},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":126,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":129,"show_sort_weight":126,"slug":130},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":132,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":133,"show_sort_weight":132,"slug":134},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":136,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":137,"show_sort_weight":106,"slug":138},19,"General","general"]