FDI Center participated in the ASEAN Investment Forum (AIF) in Kuala Lumpur on October 24, 2025. Organized by the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry of Malaysia, the Malaysian Investment Development Authority, the ASEAN Secretariat, the ASEAN Coordinating Committee on Investment, the ASEAN Business and Advisory Council, and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), AIF was attended by ministers and senior government officials responsible for trade and investment, global investors, investment promotion agencies, and private sector leaders. The Forum aimed to reinforce ASEAN’s position as an integrated region for foreign direct investment (FDI).

 FDI Center’s managing director, Andreas Dressler, moderated two sessions at AIF, including a roundtable bringing together a select group of investors with investment-ready green projects from across the ASEAN region and a panel discussion on “Investing in ASEAN’s Renewable Energy Ecosystem”. Both sessions reinforced the critical importance of investment-ready (or bankable) investment projects in ASEAN’s energy transition. While investors of all types are focusing on the region to deploy capital in renewable energy and other green sectors such as biofuels, there remains a shortage of investment-ready projects that meet the requirements of international investors. The sessions also highlighted the role of investment promotion agencies in originating, packaging, and promoting these projects, working closely with local project developers, relevant ministries, and other stakeholders.

This year’s ASEAN Investment Forum focused on implementation of the ASEAN Regional Investment Promotion Action Plan 2025–2030, which FDI Center developed on behalf of ESCAP and ASEAN and continues to support.