Boosting partnerships will help SEA region address rising oil prices: Rajah

The Second Finance Minister delivered a speech at an ADB symposium.

As Southeast Asia faces rising oil prices, inflation and geopolitical instability, Second Minister of Finance Indranee Rajah said boosting supply chains and international trade will help the region mitigate these issues.

In a speech at the 2022 Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Southeast Asia Development Symposium, Rajah warned that rising prices may have an impact on social, economic, and political stability. She also took issue with the risks of future pandemics and the climate crisis.

To address these challenges, Rajah underscored boosting partnerships with multilateral development banks, the private sector, and philanthropies to address health and climate risks, invest in sustainability, and drive development efforts.

Rajah cited that the region can recover in a more sustainable way by boosting supply chains and global trade by integrating green solutions in various stages of the logistics value chain, which will improve productivity and reduce carbon footprint.

Aside from this, Rajah suggested investing in sustainable infrastructure to avoid dire economic, environmental and social impact.

Citing figures from ADB, Rajah said Southeast Asia needs about $285b (US$210b) yearly from 2016 to 2030 for investments in climate-resilient infrastructure. She also raised that private and institutional resources must be deployed to bridge this gap because public financing cannot meet this requirement.

Rajah also said governments and businesses in the region should increasingly tap on green financing to meet sustainability goals. She added that Singapore seeks to work with Southeast Asian countries to support this shift.

For instance, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is already working with Southeast Asian countries to develop an Association of Southeast Asian Nations Taxonomy for Sustainable Finance, support companies globally to invest in green and transition projects, and push more sustainable business models through the sustainable bond grant scheme, and green and sustainability-linked loan grant scheme. 

With this, Rajah seeks to see more partnerships between multilateral development banks and financial institutions to deepen Asia-focused sustainable finance expertise in the region.

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