A Look into the Future: Building a Platform for Sustainability and Impact Investment

Abstract

Impact investment is a young investment strategy with a bright future. It uniquely aligns the development goals of the Southeast Asian frontier economies with the demand by global investors for meaningful returns. Most financial professionals are aware of the existence of impact investment, but few actively develop the sector. In the frontier countries in the ASEAN we explored in this book, most development organizations and the public sector are in a similar position; they would like more sustainable investment in their country but do little to start the dialogue with those financial professionals who could make it happen. This may change when they become aware of the opportunity cost of inaction and the powerful network effects that platforms for sustainability and impact investment could catalyze in their economies. Such platforms have the power to serve as marketplaces for impact investment, as well as ecosystems for local SMEs and entrepreneurs.