Asia-Pac 'needs twice as much investment for infrastructure'

Tokyo

THE Asian Development Bank (ADB) has more than doubled its previous estimate of the annual investment that has to be made in basic infrastructure in the Asia-Pacific for it to continue growing economically and reducing poverty.

The bank said on Tuesday that developing Asia (excluding advanced nations such as Japan) will need to invest US$1.5 trillion a year between now and 2030 (a total of US$22.6 trillion), to beef up power, transport, communications and other infrastructure, mostly in China and India.

These estimates are twice the US$750 billion annual spending the ADB had previously estimated was needed, although that figure was for the decade only up to 2020.

The latest estimates, updating those in a 2009 report, also surpass the US$880 billion now being spent each year on providing infrastructure in 25 Asia-Pacific countries, home to 96 per cent o…