Singapore can play central role as Asia seeks climate financing solutions: Asian Development Bank regional director

“Three years ago, Vietnam had very little renewable energy. The ADB has done six private sector renewable energy deals in Vietnam, and now commercial banks and other actors are looking at Vietnam as having a strong potential for renewable energy,” said Mr Surtani.

He said the Vietnam example showcases the need to build up a consistent track record in order to instil confidence in investors.

ACCUMULATING UNSUSTAINABLE DEBT

Mr Surtani acknowledged that countries may be left vulnerable to accumulating unsustainable public debt while tackling climate change, but remained optimistic towards the prospects of attracting equity investments.

“The issue is there is plenty of equity (and) there is also a lot of capital. I think for investors, coming into Asia is that they want to be attracted by stable returns, and it’s about creating that ecosystem (and) environment to attract that. I don’t think there is any issue in terms of attracting suitable equity,” he said.

He said that Singapore is in a “fantastic” position as a lot of big private equity firms are headquartered in the country, and are looking for places to invest and deploy their money in.