Professor Hidetoshi Nishimura, President of ERIA, presented the Comprehensive Asia Development Plan 2.0 (CADP) at the ASEAN Connectivity Coordinating Committee Meeting on 15 October 2015, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

In response to a request from the Leaders of the East Asia Summit in 2009, ERIA formulated the original version of the CADP. The CADP, which ERIA submitted to the 5th East Asia Summit (EAS) in 2010, presents a grand spatial design of economic infrastructure and industrial locations in ASEAN and East Asia that will deepen economic integration and narrow development gaps.

CADP 2.0 expands the framework of a new development strategy along stages of industrial development by bringing in infrastructure for innovation. The expanded framework guides the prioritisation and selection of hard and soft infrastructure projects for connectivity and innovation.

CADP 2.0 highlights the importance of 'the quality of infrastructure' and 'the quality of infrastructure projects'.

Prof Nishimura emphasised that reducing non-tariff institutional and regulatory barriers through institutional and regulatory connectivity offers great benefits to GDP. There is a need for adequate regulatory coherence through good regulatory practices and the development of a well-performing regulatory management system. Prof Nishimura illustrated the challenges of regulatory connectivity at the sectoral level using power grid interconnection in ASEAN.

The estimated cost-benefit ratios of power grid interconnection are very high. But substantial regulatory connectivity hurdles remain:

• The need to harmonise regulations and standards relevant to grid interconnection
• The need to synchronise actions in balancing the grid and the cross-border power exchange systems
• The need to coordinate and optimise the future investment plan of power station and grid

In response to the challenges, ERIA and The Heads of ASEAN Power Utilities/Authorities will conduct joint studies on the formation of the ASEAN Power Grid Transmission System Operators Institution.

ERIA presented the CADP 2.0 to the Third EAS Economic Ministers Meeting in August 2015 and the Ninth EAS Energy Ministers Meeting in October 2015. The Ministers welcomed the report and acknowledged the importance of developing quality infrastructure.

'We will submit the complete version of the CADP 2.0 to the 10th East Asia Summit in November 2015,' Prof Nishimura said.