Who Will Pay for ASEAN’s Smart Cities?

At the ASEAN Smart Cities Network Roundtable Meeting in Bangkok in June, Thailand’s Digital Economy and Society Minister Pichet Durongkaveroj called for more public-private partnerships and said his country plans to attract non-ASEAN countries for partnerships and investments in smart city infrastructure as part of the ASCN. Among the countries mentioned were Japan, South Korea and China – all nations with extensive capabilities and expertise in new technologies and ones which ASEAN has already worked with in transfer of technologies.