KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 26 — UOB Global Economics and Markets Research expects stock of investment in South-East Asia to reach US$2.7 trillion (RM8.8 trillion) in 2020 from US$1.6 trillion in 2013 even if the foreign direct investment (FDI) growth rate is half of its current annualised rate.

The research house said the stock of FDI accumulation in South-East Asia has been rising at a steady pace of about 16 per cent annualised rate since 1980.

“Even with a conservative assumption of about eight per cent annual growth, the stock of investment in South-East Asia is expected to nearly double to US$2.7 trillion in 2020 and to US$6 trillion by 2030,” it said in a research note today.

The research house said the key factor both as a stimulus at the early stages, as well as a force to sustain growth momentum in the subsequent stages, was the severe lack of infrastructure investment in the region.

It said according to the Asian Development Bank, over US$8 trillion of infrastructure investment would be required in Asia between 2010 and 2020 and over US$800 million of that for South-East Asia.

The research house said the lag in infrastructure investment and the opening up of economies such as Myanmar had presented opportunities within South-East Asia, attracting investors’ attention with increased investment inflows.

It added that the region has surpassed China for the first time in terms of volumes of FDI inflows last year after falling behind for more than a decade.

“Among the infrastructure projects in the pipeline are South-East Asia’s first high-speed rail connecting Kuala Lumpur and Singapore which is estimated to cost US$12 billion and Thailand’s high-speed rail to be part of the 3,000 kilometres Kunming-Singapore line that passes through Laos, Thailand and Malaysia, targeting for completion in 2021,” it said. — Bernama