Southeast Asia’s new PPP race

In an article on “Southeast Asia’s new PPP race“, by Alicia Buller for Partnerships Bulletin, I contributed comments on the competitive advantages of ASEAN’s top 5 PPP markets – Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia – in their competition for global capital.

As “geography cannot be abolished — even in the age of AI and deep tech”, I argued that “Southeast Asia sits at the epicentre of two major global shifts“:

📍 the ‘China Plus One’ supply chain diversification trend – “the US-China trade and technology standoff is driving a tidal wave of corporate relocation, fuelling demand for a new generation of ports, industrial parks, and logistics networks“.

📍 the twin digital and green transitions – “the US-China confrontation has created an urgent need for secure, independent digital infrastructure – from data centres to 5G – effectively birthing a new asset class“.

“In this environment, an investor isn’t merely buying a 25-year concession; they’re taking a direct stake in two of the most powerful secular trends in the world’s most dynamic economic region.”

Read the full article here.

Picture credits: Getty

Nicolas Michelon

Nicolas is a corporate geoeconomics and strategic & business intelligence expert with 25 years of experience in the Asia-Pacific, and more recently in the Gulf and Türkiye. A Managing Partner at Alagan Partners, he advises corporate executives on how to navigate the current geopolitical and geoeconomic environment, mitigate risk and develop prospective scenarios. He is also an Adjunct Professor & Guest Lecturer in geopolitics, geoeconomics and business intelligence at ESCP Business School (France), Galatasaray University (Türkiye), University Mohammed VI Polytechnic (Morocco), and Ecole de Guerre Economique (Paris School of Economic Warfare).