When Indonesian president Joko Widodo was elected in 2014, he vowed to boost economic growth to 7% of gross domestic product (GDP). Subsequently, plans to spend around US$355 billion building a total of 265 projects by 2019 were announced, in a bid to bridge the US$1.5 trillion infrastructure gap Indonesia still had in comparison to other emerging economies, according to the World Bank in 2017.

As both Japan and China seek to exert their geopolitical ambitions on the region, competition between the two countries is heating up.Japan – along with South Korea – is a key ally of the United States (US) in the region and plays a major role in the US’ plans of minimising Chinese influence in the Indo-Pacific region. Meanwhile, China are working hard to realise their Belt and Road Initiative projects.

The Philippines is likely to be able to fund its Build, Build, Build infrastructure project (2016-2020) under its 10-point Socio-Economic Agenda, but it may face setbacks in terms of labour to make it happen. GDP growth for the Philippines' was recorded at 6.7% last year, according to Moody's Analytics and larger spending on infrastructure, will help it to sustain long term growth.

The recent announcement by Thailand’s Ministry of Tourism & Sports it had welcomed 35 million international tourists on its shores in 2017 is good news for its businesses but has given rise to doubts on Thailand's ability to sustain increasing tourist volumes in the short term. One of the main challenges it faces is limitations to its transportation infrastructure.

Much like how the ancient trade functioned when the Western civilisation of the Roman Empire began to trade with the Chinese Empire in the first century for wool, silver and gold, the maritime silk road in the 21st century is named OBOR (or One Belt, One Road) as it is poised to become a passage way that would contribute to the widespread of trade across the world, while a coherent blueprint is set to interconnect international infrastructures in order to maintain the national interest of the

Rebuilding the besieged Philippine city of Marawi could cost about 56 billion pesos ($1.1 billion), according to Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana.Months of fighting between Philippine troops and Islamic State-led militants have left the once vibrant city on the southern island of Mindanao a virtual ghost town, displacing more than 230,000 people.“There’s a need to rebuild the infrastructure, provide social assistance to those traumatized by the war, restock armed forces ammunition and reple