Business World Online
Posted on May 09, 2011 11:13:20 PM
LONDON -- Clean technology investors are eyeing Southeast Asia with increasing interest as opportunities grow in the region, private equity funds said at an investor event in London on Friday last week.
Although China and India remain the leaders in Asia’s clean technology sector, the rest of the region -- including Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam -- offers good opportunities and looks set to grow.
"We are looking at the less fashionable markets which are badly under-served by private equity and venture capital," said Andrew Newman, finance director of clean energy investment manager Low Carbon Investor’s Asian-focused fund.
Low Carbon Accelerator Asia aims to invest $150 million in small-scale solar and wind, waste-to-energy projects, energy efficiency and clean water projects in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
The South and Southeast Asian markets (excluding China) are expected to grow at an average annual rate of 6.4% by 2015, while demand for energy is expected to grow by around 76% in Southeast Asia by 2030, Mr. Newman said.
Both these factors make the region an attractive prospect for investment.
"Access to energy is critical to drive economic growth; yet, insufficient installed capacity leads to rolling blackouts, which highlight the significant opportunity for small-scale distributed generation," Mr. Newman said.
Vivek Tandon, co-founder of Aloe Private Equity, said development finance institutions are shifting their focus from China to Southeast Asia.
"They no longer see China as a developing market and push more towards Southeast Asia and Africa," he said.
Aloe’s portfolio companies cover clean energy, waste recycling and clean manufacturing, and it has made several investments in Asia.
"There are some interesting projects in Southeast Asia, but you have to put the time into developing relationships with management and cultivating trust," Mr. Tandon said.
"I would like to see us in those markets in the next one to two years," he added.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) committed $60 million to three venture capital (VC) funds in China and India in 2009-2010, but could not find a fund in Southeast Asia which was investible, said ADB investment officer Johanna Klein.
"The challenge is that it is on a different scale to doing a VC fund in a single country because there are more countries." Ms. Klein said. "Maybe we have one more generation of funds to go before it can start. But we are seeing good models of funds which will start to grow in Southeast Asia." -- Reuters
"We are looking at the less fashionable markets which are badly under-served by private equity and venture capital," said Andrew Newman, finance director of clean energy investment manager Low Carbon Investor’s Asian-focused fund.
Low Carbon Accelerator Asia aims to invest $150 million in small-scale solar and wind, waste-to-energy projects, energy efficiency and clean water projects in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
The South and Southeast Asian markets (excluding China) are expected to grow at an average annual rate of 6.4% by 2015, while demand for energy is expected to grow by around 76% in Southeast Asia by 2030, Mr. Newman said.
Both these factors make the region an attractive prospect for investment.
"Access to energy is critical to drive economic growth; yet, insufficient installed capacity leads to rolling blackouts, which highlight the significant opportunity for small-scale distributed generation," Mr. Newman said.
Vivek Tandon, co-founder of Aloe Private Equity, said development finance institutions are shifting their focus from China to Southeast Asia.
"They no longer see China as a developing market and push more towards Southeast Asia and Africa," he said.
Aloe’s portfolio companies cover clean energy, waste recycling and clean manufacturing, and it has made several investments in Asia.
"There are some interesting projects in Southeast Asia, but you have to put the time into developing relationships with management and cultivating trust," Mr. Tandon said.
"I would like to see us in those markets in the next one to two years," he added.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) committed $60 million to three venture capital (VC) funds in China and India in 2009-2010, but could not find a fund in Southeast Asia which was investible, said ADB investment officer Johanna Klein.
"The challenge is that it is on a different scale to doing a VC fund in a single country because there are more countries." Ms. Klein said. "Maybe we have one more generation of funds to go before it can start. But we are seeing good models of funds which will start to grow in Southeast Asia." -- Reuters
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