EVs and AI drive Southeast Asia's green economy growth

Southeast Asia’s green economy is projected to grow from about 290 billion U.S. dollars today to 430 billion U.S. dollars by 2030, driven by rising demand from electric vehicles (EVs), data centers, artificial intelligence, and industrial expansion, according to a new report released on Monday, News.Az reports, citing Xinhua.

Investment momentum across the region is accelerating, but execution bottlenecks—rather than funding shortages—remain the key challenge in turning capital into completed projects, said the report by Bain & Company and Standard Chartered.

The report noted that more than 540 billion U.S. dollars in investments have been announced across Southeast Asia’s power and EV value chains. However, there is a 35 percent gap between announced and realized capital expenditure, driven by grid constraints, permitting delays, and fragmented market structures.

It also highlighted that electricity demand is expected to increase by more than 100 terawatt-hours by 2030, fueled by data centers, EV adoption, and industrial clusters.

However, grid infrastructure typically takes five to 15 years to develop, creating a significant mismatch between supply readiness and demand growth.

The report further stated that Southeast Asia’s EV market is expanding rapidly, but around 70 percent of EV value creation still flows outside the region, with Southeast Asia accounting for only 2 percent of global EV production.

If effectively executed, the region could unlock an additional 80 billion U.S. dollars in investments by 2030, it added.

News.Az 

By Nijat Babayev