A more coordinated approach is helping Asean showcase the region’s collective potential for green investment.
For the first time, Asean Member States collectively pitched the region to international investors in key green industries, marking a shift from country-by-country promotion towards a more integrated approach to attracting investment.
With abundant agricultural resources, growing energy demand and rapidly developing markets, Southeast Asia has strong potential to attract investment in biofuels, biomass and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Developing these industries requires investment across multiple stages of production, from sourcing raw materials to processing and manufacturing, with different countries in the region contributing at different stages of the value chain.
To build on this potential, Invest Asean brings the bloc’s members together to promote the region as an integrated investment destination. Guided by the Asean Regional Investment Promotion Action Plan (RIPAP) 2025–2030, the initiative connects investors with opportunities across regional value chains, drawing on the complementary strengths of Asean economies and coordinated support from their investment promotion agencies.
Supported by the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), nine investment promotion agencies (IPAs) put this approach into practice at two major international green investment events: the Argus Biofuels Conference and the 34th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition.
Beyond country-by-country promotion
Invest Asean offers IPAs a new way to engage investors by placing national priorities within a wider regional proposition.
“Many investors are looking beyond individual countries and are increasingly interested in regional ecosystems and integrated supply chains,” says Herni Hamzah, Assistant Director at the Strategic Planning and Policy Advocacy Division of the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA).
“Working together through Invest Asean was very different from our usual approach, where we represent Malaysia individually. Investors were impressed to see Asean countries working together on one platform, where we focused on complementing each other rather than competing.”
Strength in diversity
A regional approach to investment promotion allows Asean Member States to combine their distinct capabilities and direct investors towards the country that best meets their needs.
“We are strengthening the regional renewable energy ecosystem by leveraging our diverse strengths, including Malaysia’s strong foundation in solar capacity, green infrastructure and grid readiness,” explains Hamzah.
The benefits extend beyond individual projects to the wider regional proposition.
“Together we can demonstrate the scale of the region, our aggregated demand and supply and our market access,” says Gil Ezekiel J. Senanin, Investment Specialist at the Philippine Board of Investments (BOI).
“We can also position each country within a broader regional value chain, showing investors where the Philippines can contribute and where other Asean countries have complementary expertise.”
For Timor-Leste, this creates opportunities to connect agricultural resources with emerging SAF and biofuels value chains, while supporting new economic opportunities for agricultural communities.
“The strength of Asean comes from the different advantages of its Member States. Some Asean countries have large-scale industrial sectors, while countries such as Timor-Leste can contribute raw materials and feedstock to new industries,” says Reno Bernardo, External Relations and Marketing Manager at TradeInvest Timor-Leste.
“We are still highly dependent on fossil fuels for our energy supply, but that creates an early-mover opportunity for investors as our economy transitions towards a more sustainable energy system,” he adds.
Learning together, promoting together
Collaboration creates opportunities for mutual learning for Asean countries that are at different stages of developing green industries.
“This is an important time for Timor-Leste to learn from international experience, which will help us to develop our green transition in a phased and responsible way, avoiding unsustainable approaches,” says Bernardo.
IPAs also learned from policies and strategies of each other and gained insights into investors’ priorities.
“We gained a deeper understanding of what investors are looking for in the SAF and biofuels industries, as well as the value chain and financing considerations behind their investment decisions. This has helped us build the knowledge and confidence to position the Philippines as an emerging SAF hub in the region,” says John Carl Ace B. Velez, Investment Specialist at the Philippine Board of Investments.
Pitching as a team of IPAs was a particularly hands-on learning experience.
“As someone who wasn’t familiar with the industry, I was apprehensive. But it was encouraging to see that, although we all have different value propositions, we can promote collectively. When one of us couldn’t respond to an investor, another Asean colleague could step in,” says Senanin.
From conversations to investment opportunities
The events generated more than 30 investor meetings, with several companies identified for further engagement and connected with relevant national counterparts.
For Timor-Leste, the events expanded its network with Asean partners and technology providers, creating connections for future information sharing and project development.
At a high-level SAF roundtable, the Philippine BOI connected with institutional investors, opening opportunities to introduce the country’s investment-ready SAF projects and explore potential equity partnerships.
MIDA reported increased visibility for Malaysia from the joint Asean presence, with several companies and project developers entering discussions with its sectoral teams.
The next step is to turn these relationships and investment leads into projects, building on the collaborative spirit of Invest Asean to mobilise investment for the region’s green transition.
This collaboration will continue in the Philippines at the Fourth Asean Investment Forum, connecting investors with Asean investment promotion agencies and investment-ready projects across the region’s green growth sectors.
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