This report provides an update on the local currency sustainable bond markets in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the People’s Republic of China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea (ASEAN+3). Historically, green bonds have dominated the sustainable debt market in ASEAN+3, but the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has spawned the next generation of social- and sustainability-labeled instruments to fund a broader range of environmental and social benefits. This report provides a comprehensive summary of regional developments, identifies existing obstacles and challenges, highlights green investment opportunities in key sectors, and offers practical recommendations to further develop sustainable local currency bond markets in ASEAN+3.

The Asian Development Bank and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the People's Republic of China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea (ASEAN+3) are looking to explore options to promote green local currency-denominated bonds to meet the region's infrastructure development needs. Green bonds---supported within the ASEAN+3 framework---would help meet the long-term financing of the region especially in its transition to a low-carbon region. This publication highlights an assessment study of green bond markets in ASEAN+3, identifies the barriers to green bond market development, and proposes recommendations to scale up green bond markets for infrastructure development in ASEAN+3.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is working closely with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the People's Republic of China (PRC), Japan, and the Republic of Korea---collectively known as ASEAN+3---to develop local currency bond markets and facilitate regional bond market integration under the Asian Bond Markets Initiative (ABMI). ABMI was launched in 2002 to strengthen the resilience of the region's financial system by developing local currency bond markets as an alternative source to foreign currency-denominated, short-term bank loans for long-term investment financing. The need for infrastructure investment among ASEAN+3 members is well documented, with estimates for needed investment through 2020 reaching as high as $550 billion. Local currency financing of infrastructure projects has the important advantage of avoiding the currency risk that can arise when a project generating revenues in the domestic currency has foreign currency-denominated debt service requirements. This study was undertaken under ABMI and funded by the Government of the PRC. It addresses two key questions: (i) Why is local currency bond financing not more widely used for infrastructure projects in ASEAN+3? and (ii) What can be done to promote infrastructure bond financing?

Local currency bond markets in ASEAN+3 play an important role in diversifying financial intermediary channels and mitigating the impacts of financial crises. They also have the potential to help mobilize developing Asia's significant savings to meet the region's enormous infrastructure investment needs. Drawing extensively on knowledge generated by the ASEAN+3 Bond Market Forum, the publication looks at the essential building blocks and the enabling environment for these markets, as well as the roles of government, relevant authorities, and market participants.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has been working closely with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the People's Republic of China (PRC), Japan, and the Republic of Korea---collectively known as ASEAN+3---to promote the development of local currency bond markets in the region through the Asian Bond Markets Initiative (ABMI). ABMI was launched in 2002 to help channel regional savings toward long-term investments within the region. ABMI was established with the goal of improving the resilience of the region's financial systems by helping reduce the double mismatches (maturity and currency) of companies' investment financing. Since the launch of ABMI, local currency bond markets in the region have grown rapidly in recent decades in terms of size and diversity of issuers. This study was undertaken under ABMI and funded by the Government of Japan. It focuses on measures to expand the investor base for local currency bonds in ASEAN, the PRC, and the Republic of Korea, with the goal of generating greater variety in investment objectives and a wider range of investment strategies.

The ASEAN+3 Multi-Currency Bond Issuance Framework (AMBIF) is a policy initiative of the Asian Bond Markets Initiative to create a nexus among domestic professional local currency bond markets in the region by facilitating intra-regional transactions through standardized bond and note issuance and investment processes. This report follows up on the proposal described in the Phase 2 Report of the ASEAN+3 Bond Market Forum (Sub-Forum 1), published in April 2014, to provide procedures on how to implement AMBIF in the region. AMBIF is expected to facilitate intra-regional bond and note issuance and investment by creating common market practices; utilizing a common document for submission, the Single Submission Form; and highlighting transparent issuance procedures as documented in the Implementation Guidelines for each participating market. The report also contains a set of Frequently Asked Questions to provide interested parties, including issuers in the region, with an easy reference for their potential queries and concerns on the implementation of AMBIF.

This report looks at how the use of local currency-denominated bonds for cross-border collateral transactions can be promoted in ASEAN+3 to develop regional bond markets. Active use of local currency-denominated bonds for cross-border collateral transactions can help by mitigating risks, reducing the credit costs of financial institutions, and expanding market liquidity. The report identifies the challenges faced by regional collateral markets and proposes seven policy recommendations for promoting the cross-border use of local currency bonds as collateral in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations plus the People's Republic of China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea-known collectively as ASEAN+3.