KUALA LUMPUR: Australia has identified investments totalling A$20bil (RM55.2bil) across South-East Asia as Canberra enters a new phase of regional economic cooperation.
Revealing this, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the country wants to be an invested participant and an engaged partner in the region's growth.
The strengthened commitment, he said, is due to solid progress achieved last year.
This, he said, was exemplified by two-way trade reaching a record high after increasing by nearly A$6bil (RM16.56bil), while Australian investments rose by some A$2bil (RM5.52bil) in South-East Asia, Bernama reported.
"It's been driven by our deal teams identifying potential projects across the region.
"This combination means Australia is making new investments in farming in Laos, energy in Thailand, infrastructure in Vietnam, and Toll (Group's) transport and logistics across South-East Asia.
"From our government's point of view, this is just the beginning.
"There is an A$20bil pipeline of projects where we see value for Australian capital and financing," Albanese said in his special address at the Asean-Indo Pacific Forum 2025 here yesterday.
To accelerate the progress, Albanese announced new capital commitments, including A$175mil (RM483mil) into the IFM Investors Asia Fund, a move that will open markets in the region for 15 Australian superannuation funds.
"We will also invest US$50mil (RM210.5mil) to establish a new platform led by Plenary Group, an Australian specialist in public-private partnership infrastructure projects.
"This platform is expected to support much-needed infrastructure projects and deliver nation-building projects in South-East Asia," he added.