BRI can boost Asian region’s connectivity: Malaysian minister

China’s Belt and Road initiative (BRI) could help bridge infrastructure and connectivity gaps in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Malaysian Economic Affairs Minister Mohamed Azmin Ali said Tuesday.

The BRI has opened doors for Malaysia to its ASEAN neighbors and the rest of the world, said the minister, at the launch of a joint report on the initiative and Southeast Asia by the ASEAN Research Institute of Malaysia’s CIMB Bank and LSE IDEAS, the foreign policy think tank of the London School of Economics and Political Science.

“Indeed, Malaysia supports this vision of a connected ASEAN, and as a developing country and trading nation, infrastructure connectivity is of paramount importance to Malaysia so as to facilitate seamless movement of goods, services and people,” he said.

Proposed by China in 2013, the BRI aims to build trade and infrastructure networks connecting Asia with Europe and Africa on and beyond the ancient Silk Road routes. It comprises the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.

“The vision of the BRI is being promoted at a time when ASEAN too is moving toward greater integration, with the formation of the ASEAN Economic Community,” said the minister.

The motivation for the regional connectivity agenda is also driven by the rapidly increasing demand of the digital economy, which has the potential to add $1 trillion to ASEAN's current combined GDP by 2025, he said.

According to him, ASEAN has annual infrastructure needs of more than $110 billion, which is two to six times the region's historical annual expenditure on infrastructure.

China is an economic giant with which Malaysia has enjoyed enduring diplomatic relations since 1974, he said.