The past three years have been tough. Economies in the Asia-Pacific felt the brunt of the global health emergency. Yet, what has been remarkable is how governments and the private sector came together to engineer the rebound and recovery to reinstate the region’s title as the world’s fastest growing region.

Turning adversity into opportunity, governments and the companies that operate in this region dealt with the fragilities exposed by the pandemic. In some ways, the Covid crisis is that watershed moment as governments and companies – taking advantage of the pause in business-as-usual – to set new priorities and pivot towards sustainability.

This is especially notable in the area of sustainable finance. The Asean+3 outstanding sustainable bond market, for example, topped US$598 billion in 2022, crossing the halfway mark to US$1 trillion for the first time, data from AsianBondsOnline (ABO) indicate. Green bonds of the pre-Covid years are now issued alongside social, sustainable, and sustainability-linked debt across the region.

Successful issuances by governments and companies in the past 12 months showcase real examples in how finance can play a catalytic role in Asia-Pacific’s rebound and recovery. As the rest of the world reconnects with our region, the opportunity for knowledge-sharing and replication of successful financings are aplenty. They provide a variety of roadmaps in how to break barriers and accelerate the financing of Asia-Pacific’s sustainability agenda.

The Asset Events is pleased to be hosting a roundtable discussion alongside the 56th Asian Development Bank annual meeting in Incheon, South Korea to shine the spotlight on sustainable finance and the practicalities of structuring successful deals. The roundtable will bring together sustainable finance leaders from governments, corporates, investment funds and financial institutions to discuss how finance is playing its part, what to watch out for, and why reform and adoption by more governments and companies to calibrate their financing needs toward sustainability provide hope for the future.