Effective infrastructure investment requires a long-term vision and a credible roadmap to achieve it. This requires governments to establish an adequate institutional framework, implement clear governance arrangements, define needs and targets, co‑ordinate across stakeholders, and develop reliable action plans. Transparency and predictability of government intentions are also prerequisites for enabling long-term investment decisions, especially from private investors. Long-term infrastructure strategies that align with complementary medium-term action plans play a crucial role in guiding investment decisions from both public and private actors (Aguilar Jaber et al., 2020).
Of the four Southeast Asia (SEA) countries for which data are available, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand each have a cross-sectoral infrastructure plan that covers more than ten years, and the Philippines has a plan that covers five years (Figure 4.1). This is similar to the four OECD Member countries in the Asia-Pacific region, of whom three have cross-sectoral infrastructure plans that cover more than ten years (Australia, Korea and New Zealand). For example, Indonesia’s infrastructure planning framework includes a 20-year long-term development plan, divided into four 5-year medium-term plans to implement the long-term plan. Indonesia’s new long-term plan covering the period 2025-2045 includes the development of quality infrastructure as a key component of its development agenda. At the sector level, all four SEA countries for which data are available have strategic plans within sectors that cover ten years or more. Only two of four OECD countries in the Asia-Pacific region (Korea and New Zealand) have this in place. Factors such as urbanisation pressures and economic growth may influence the extent of sectoral planning use in SEA countries.
All four SEA countries for which data are available promote sustainable infrastructure by setting goals or targets to invest in sustainability initiatives in their infrastructure plans (Table 4.1). These can include circular economy systems, sustainable mobility and addressing environmental risks. Three of four SEA countries (Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore) work to identify cross-sector synergies to reduce negative environmental impacts. However, only two of the four (the Philippines and Singapore) have goals to adapt existing infrastructure to ensure resource efficiency or otherwise improve environmental performance in infrastructure construction and operation. For example, the Philippines' strategic framework for expanding and upgrading infrastructure commits to mainstreaming resilience to environmental risks throughout the infrastructure life cycle. Some forms of targets for investment in sustainability initiatives are also underutilised across OECD countries. Only 11 of 31 OECD countries have targets for supporting research and development, and only 13 of 31 have targets for resource efficiency in infrastructure construction and operation.
Monitoring the implementation of infrastructure plans is essential for evidence-based decision making and accountability, and could be developed further in both SEA countries and OECD countries. All four SEA countries for which data are available monitor the achievement of defined policy outcomes (
Table 4.2). In addition, Indonesia and the Philippines have also established other non-project-related objectives, such as institutional reform and capacity building. However, only the Philippines and Singapore use project-specific benchmarks, such as timelines or cost estimations for priority projects. Project-specific benchmarks are crucial in enabling citizens and stakeholders to scrutinise the implementation of priority projects and assess their effectiveness in supporting broader policy objectives.
