Source: Media Outreach
APREA’s rebranding celebrates 16 years of long-term industry advocacy with re-found purpose in “Driving the Future of Real Assets”
SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 7 April 2021 – APREA celebrates its 16th anniversary with the association’s mission redefined: To promote growth in the real assets sector by being the voice of members in all policy matters, providing access to industry-advancing research and insights and connecting members to business opportunities.Asia’s economic transformation over the past 60 years has been unprecedented with the 21st century being described as the “Asian Century”. Despite the pandemic turmoil, Asia remains the locus of future global growth, expected to boast the largest economies in the world including China, Japan, India and the ASEAN region in 2030 and beyond. Driven by demographic tailwinds, urbanization in the Asia Pacific is an epic boom that will drive the growth of its middle-class and with it, a cycle of rising consumption. Real assets are a play into the region’s structural megatrends that will outlive the pandemic. The Asian Century – Real Assets GrowthThe Asian Development Bank estimates that the region will need to invest $26 trillion from 2016 to 2030 if the region is to maintain its growth momentum, eradicate poverty and respond to climate change – that works out to US$1.7 trillion a year to the end of the decade. Currently, only about US$900 million are estimated to be invested annually. In other words, if policies are conducive for the private sector to step in to fill this void, Asia Pacific provides an infrastructure investment opportunity of over US$8 trillion over the next ten years. “Infrastructure is ultimately what translates the impact of urbanization into benefits for real estate. With the requirements needed by the rapidly developing economies that will eventually host more than half of the world’s megacities, investments into infrastructure development in the Asia Pacific is a cycle that will be played out over decades,” commented Mr. John Lim, Chairman of APREA, also Co-Founder & Deputy Chairman of ARA Asset Management Limited. Infrastructure demand is expected to increase exponentially, thus, enabling sustainable financing of these massive projects to gain traction. And there will be opportunities for the private sector to participate, as many of the infrastructure initiatives align with ESG allocations, re-development, connectivity, and economic growth. Economic Aspirations – The Key Regional Drivers