Blog
2026
March
19
ASEAN launches InvestASEAN as biofuels gateway to the region
Article by Tom Becker, Economist, United Nations ESCAP
Increasing levels of foreign direct investment (FDI) are urgently needed to bridge the financing gap to meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) across member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
ASEAN is one of the most dynamic regions globally and in the limelight of many investors’ growth, diversification and resilience strategies. In 2025, ASEAN attracted the highest share of greenfield FDI project announcements of any subregion in Asia-Pacific – in fact, 27 per cent of the total at US$ 88 billion.[1]
Increasing levels of foreign direct investment (FDI) are urgently needed to bridge the financing gap to meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) across member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
ASEAN is one of the most dynamic regions globally and in the limelight of many investors’ growth, diversification and resilience strategies. In 2025, ASEAN attracted the highest share of greenfield FDI project announcements of any subregion in Asia-Pacific – in fact, 27 per cent of the total at US$ 88 billion.[1]
This makes FDI particularly well-positioned to advance the Paris Agreement's objectives, provided it is strategically directed toward sectors and business activities that substantively contribute to greening global value and supply chains.[2]
The transport sector is currently the second largest final energy consumer after the industrial sector in ASEAN and biofuels are an essential part of the sector’s decarbonization.[3] As an engine for growth and with far reaching impact on a range of downstream industries, biofuels are a key catalyst for greening sustainable development and value chains across ASEAN.
ASEAN’s biofuel value chain is characterized by an abundant and diverse base of agricultural resources and residues. The region’s climate makes it one of the world’s leading producers of essential feedstocks, including cassava, paddy and coconuts amongst others, while feedstocks for second and third generation biofuels such as used cooking oil (UCO) and microalgae are gaining traction. This gives ASEAN a strong comparative advantage in the upstream segment of biofuel production, with infrastructure and connectivity linking complementary markets boosting downstream segments. With challenges around regulatory fragmentation and the navigation thereof remaining, ASEAN is looking to ease the investor set-up journey and operations by providing free-of-charge government support services.
To turn the region’s potential and ambitions into tangible results, ASEAN is coming together to jointly and proactively promote and attract FDI in priority and high potential sector value chains to the region – biofuels being the first sector implemented by the collective effort.
‘InvestASEAN’ is launched as a gateway for biofuels investments to its economies – acting as a single focal point for investors into the regional ecosystem. The ASEAN Secretariat and member States’ investment promotion agencies (IPAs) and line Ministries, with support from the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), are pooling efforts to promote brand ASEAN to biofuels companies and investors. The website is to go live in April 2026.
InvestASEAN is supporting investors with intelligence on biofuels ecosystems and sites, support supplier-, logistics- and industry linkages and networking as well as support investors with all required licenses and approvals, including incentives procedures, in liaison with government stakeholders to facilitate and optimize project planning and realization.
To turn the region’s potential and ambitions into tangible results, ASEAN is coming together to jointly and proactively promote and attract FDI in priority and high potential sector value chains to the region – biofuels being the first sector implemented by the collective effort.
‘InvestASEAN’ is launched as a gateway for biofuels investments to its economies – acting as a single focal point for investors into the regional ecosystem. The ASEAN Secretariat and member States’ investment promotion agencies (IPAs) and line Ministries, with support from the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), are pooling efforts to promote brand ASEAN to biofuels companies and investors. The website is to go live in April 2026.
InvestASEAN is supporting investors with intelligence on biofuels ecosystems and sites, support supplier-, logistics- and industry linkages and networking as well as support investors with all required licenses and approvals, including incentives procedures, in liaison with government stakeholders to facilitate and optimize project planning and realization.
InvestASEAN stands ready to assist interested parties and investors in exploring ASEAN’s biofuels investment potential and opportunities. Dedicated support teams will support and guide investors throughout the project exploration, development and operations phases.
Proactively looking to connect with and support investors including across the biofuels value chain – from feedstock cultivation, pre-treatment, to biorefining and storage and distribution – InvestASEAN will be represented at the Agus Biofuels & Feedstock Asia Conference held at the Marina Bay Sands Expo & Convention Centre in Singapore on 13-15 April 2026.
This initiative is part of the ASEAN Regional Investment Promotion Action Plan 2025-2030, endorsed by ASEAN Economic Ministers, to proactively promote ASEAN as an integrated investment location in priority sectors. Other green sectors are to follow, such as smart grid development, sustainable building materials and solar PV equipment, promoting holistic regional ecosystem opportunities, positioning countries in line with their comparative advantages across regional value chains.
The Secretary-General of ASEAN, Dr. Kao Kim Hourn, and Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of ESCAP, Dr Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, launching the RIPAP at the ASEAN Investment Forum in Vientiane, Lao PDR, 7 October 2024.
[1] ESCAP calculations based on data from fDi markets, the Financial Times. Available at: https://app.fdimarkets.com
[2] ESCAP, 2024. Available at: https://repository.unescap.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/73328329-2e8b-4186-9b3b-0fc3bd36a403/content.
[3] Fraunhofer ISI, 2024. Available at: https://www.artelys.com/app/uploads/2024/06/Artelys_report_decarbonisation-pathways-southeast-asia.pdf