KUALA LUMPUR/JAKARTA -- Southeast Asian countries are in dire need of new roads and other facilities to keep pace with their rapid economic development of recent years. Yet public-private partnerships, viewed as a promising means of funding such projects, often fail to take off due to uncertainty over profitability.
"What are you waiting for? You should kick-start one or two pilot projects to keep the ball rolling," a Malaysian official told a representative from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations at a meeting on regional connectivity in Kuala Lumpur in November.
