Australia, Asean agree to start regional infrastructure cooperation

SYDNEY: Australia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) agreed during a weekend summit here to establish a regional infrastructure pipeline, Australia’s foreign minister said, as the bloc seeks to balance rising Chinese influence.

The project “will develop a pipeline of high-quality infrastructure projects, to attract private and public investment”, according to a statement from Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop that was issued on Sunday.

Australia, the United States, India and Japan have been seeking to establish a regional alternative to China’s multibillion-dollar Belt and Road infrastructure scheme, according to a report in the Australian Financial Review last month that cited a senior US official.

A spokesman for Bishop said yesterday the agreement was purely an Asean initiative and was “not to counter China”.

Australia hosted the special Asean meeting, despite not being a member of the 10-nation Asean, looking to tighten political and trade ties in a region where Chinese presence is growing stronger.

A joint communique issued by Australia and the Southeast Asian bloc at the end of the meeting called for “self-restraint” in the South China Sea, where aggressive Chinese expansion has irked Asean members who also have territorial claims in the busy waterway. – Reuters