KUCHING: Asean has secured US$12.5bil (RM52.9bil) in funding from the World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB) for green projects in the region, says Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof.
The Deputy Prime Minister said the amount comprised US$2.5bil from the World Bank and US$10bil from ADB.
He said the amount would be complemented by private investment to open up new job and business opportunities in Asean.
"The banks are making the funding available and you have to apply and qualify for it. But to me, (the amount) is not enough.
"The challenge is to look at financial and business models so that we can attract more investors to come in," he told reporters after closing the Sustainable and Renewable Energy Forum (Saref 4.0) here on Thursday (Sept 4).
Fadillah said international private investors from the Arab region, Japan and China were interested to invest in the region, particularly in the Asean Power Grid (APG).
"I believe this will be the new growth for Asean on the whole.
"Because of the new investment, there will definitely be job and business opportunities for the entire Asean," he said.
In a fireside chat earlier, Fadillah said the Asean member states had agreed that the APG was the way forward for the region.
He said an enhanced APG agreement would be signed at the Asean Ministers on Energy Meeting in Kuala Lumpur in October.
"Next year will be the implementation stage. We need to follow through.
"Once the Philippines takes over (as Asean chair), there will be a clear roadmap on how we want to drive energy under the APG," he said.
Fadillah said it was critical for the member states to harmonise energy standards and business models to facilitate the transfer of electricity from country to country.
In this respect, he said the existing Laos-Thailand-Malaysia-Singapore power integration project served as a model for the APG.
"The challenge will be how to translate that model to the other member states," he said.
