Airport infrastructure is the vital link in helping Asean nations fly high

JOSEPH Stiglitz, Nobel Prize-winner in economics, has a theory that the drivers of economic growth in the 21st century will be the dual forces of digital technology and urbanisation. Today, I would like to discuss infrastructure development, and more

particularly, airport infrastructure as the critical component to propel economic growth in the Asean region. First, let me give you a snapshot of the economic potential of Asean.

Asean has a population of 639 million people, which is larger than the European Union or North America. It has the third largest workforce in the world, behind China and India. The combined economies of Asean at US$2.5 trillion make it a major economic power in the world, just behind the United States, China, the European Union and Japan. Its young workforce is expected to drive economic growth for decades to come. It will produce a demographic dividend for Asean's economies.