Renewable Energy Manufacturing: Opportunities for Southeast Asia Side Event at ASEAN Finance Ministers Meeting

Context 

A new policy research initiative involving Sustainable Energy for All, ClimateWorks Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) reveals that many ASEAN countries can secure economic growth, high-quality jobs, and lower-cost pathways to national climate targets by aggressive measures to scale-up domestic renewable energy manufacturing. Such opportunities are not one-size-fits-all: successful low-carbon industrial strategies can be created to suit each country’s stage of development—allowing a shift from an input focus for less developed countries, to a productivity focus for middle income countries, and finally to an innovation focus for developed economies, capitalizing on strengths at each stage.

An estimated $90-100 billion of potential revenue in Southeast Asia’s low-carbon mobility and clean power segments is available for capture by 2030. The ASEAN region is already well-positioned to meet the demand for manufactured inputs into these sectors, with natural advantages in its large and growing domestic market, increasing success in attracting domestic and foreign manufacturing investments, and a base of technical capabilities. Leveraging these advantages, Southeast Asia could aspire to further scale its renewables manufacturing capacity and to be a key contributor to global decarbonization. 

Seizing this opportunity will depend on policy measures specific to each country. These include stimulating domestic demand, ensuring cost competitiveness, improving the ease of doing business, and improving access to export markets. Additional supporting mechanisms could include strategic alignment to prioritize these sectors at a national level, forming partnerships across public and private sector, investing in enabling infrastructure, and galvanizing financial assistance from private and financial sectors. Finally, collaboration at ASEAN level can provide further support, through the deepening of intra-regional trade of manufacturing inputs and final goods; building common infrastructure; harmonization of regional standards; and regional cooperation in knowledge sharing and capacity building. 

Session Description

During this session, Sustainable Energy for All, Bloomberg Philanthropies, ClimateWorks Foundation, and Asian Development Bank (ADB) will present the results of their foundational research in outlining the opportunity and policy mechanisms to mobilize a scale-up of manufacturing in ASEAN. They will also propose evidence-based approaches to support ASEAN countries in establishing concrete policy roadmaps to support the rapid scale-up of domestic manufacturing, enhance job creation and local development, and boost ASEAN’s contribution to a global net-zero future. 

This event will initiate the discussion around moving from plan to action, highlighting key findings from preliminary research, and inviting strategic interventions from the institutions involved in the research.