% p. a. and 7 – 8 % p. a. respectively, while activity in the asean - 5 economies is expected to expand at around 5 % p. a. 4. 6. the rosy outlook translates to two significant implications for capital markets : a. on the demand side, relatively favourable demographics, the emergence of a rising middle class and rapid urbanisation will stimulate more savings and investments ; b. on the supply side, there is much scope in asia to improve infrastructure, technology and innovation, the success of which will go a long way toward raising productivity and incomes even further. to finance these important structural needs, asia ’ s ability to raise long - term capital for sustainable growth would make cross - border capital market activities even more important. singapore is the gateway to asia ’ s bond market 1 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches 7. singapore is well - positioned to serve asia ’ s growing financing needs. we are a developed pan - asian asset management centre with more than 600 asset managers and over sgd 2. 7 trillion of assets under management, of which 20 % is invested in fixed income strategies such as asian or emerging market debt. these include global fund managers such as schroders, pimco, blackrock as well as our local fund managers such as fullerton and uob asset management. let me share a few highlights of our bond market : a. issuances volumes grew at a compound annual growth rate of around 9 % over the last five years to reach sgd 186 billion ( usd 129 billion ) in 2016. b. 60 % of corporate bonds issued in singapore are in foreign currencies including g - 3 and asian currencies, which encompass the rmb. c. 70 % of issuers are repeat issuers, returning to tap singapore ’ s bond market, after the favourable experience with their maiden issue. let me zoom in on three pillars of strength : i. international capital for asian companies singapore offers an excellent ecosystem for asian companies to raise international capital. asian corporates, including chinese and indian companies, looking to regionalise and 8. globalise are increasingly looking to international bond markets to raise capital and to diversify funding sources. a. over 50 international and regional banks locate their debt capital markets teams here in singapore. they are supported by international lawyers, accountants and rating agencies that provide essential ancillary services in issuing a bond. b. asian companies are coming to singapore to issue debt. bright food singapore holdings pt

##e. ltd., a chinese bond issuer, issued eur 400 million in 2016. pt saka energi indonesia, also a new issuer here, issued a usd 625 million bond in 2017. under the chongqing connectivity initiative, first - time bond issuers from chongqing issued a total of usd 900 million in singapore. c. many multinational corporations that have successfully issued bonds in singapore, continue to tap on singapore for repeat issuances. this is a clear testament of the attractiveness of our debt market ecosystem. for example, the treasury unit of japan ’ s hitachi international limited, has been a frequent issuer in our bond market for over a decade. boc aviation has issued numerous bonds in currencies including usd, jpy, aud, cnh and sgd since 2010. d. singapore ’ s bond market has also grown in sophistication. for instance in the area of covered bonds, singapore has transited from a debutant to an advanced covered bond market in the region. our 3 local banks have established their global covered bond programmes, with wellreceived issuances denominated in usd, eur and aud. 9. we are rolling out the red carpet for new asian issuers. mas introduced the asian bond grant scheme this year to support first - time asia issuers in singapore ‘ s bond market, up to an amount of s $ 400, 000. we have received good interest thus far. ii. financing asian infrastructure development the second area is in infrastructure finance. asia ’ s infrastructure financing needs are vast, far beyond what government and bank financing will be able to provide. the 10. asian development bank estimates that developing asian countries will need to invest usd 1. 7 trillion annually in infrastructure till 2030 to fulfil its medium - to long - term growth potential. private 2 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches sector debt financing can play a significant role here. singapore ’ s bond market is drawing in private capital for infrastructure projects. about 60 % of asean infrastructure projects have benefitted from project finance or 1 1. advisory services of singapore - based banks. let me highlight three examples : a. belt and road initiative bonds or bri bonds. chinese banks in singapore have issued bonds to finance bri projects. china construction bank singapore branch issued rmb 1 billion ( usd 145 million ) of bri bonds last year. bank of china singapore branch recently issued rmb 4 billion ( usd