This study explores the impact of environmental degradation on public debt in the largest Southeast Asian (ASEAN-5) countries. Prior research has not examined environmental degradation as a possible determinant of public debt in the ASEAN region. As such, the primary objective is to examine key determinants of public debt, notably economic growth, trade openness, investment, and environmental degradation. Utilizing the Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS) method and data from 1996 to 2021, the study reveals a negative correlation between investment and public debt. Conversely, a positive relationship exists between economic growth, environmental degradation, and public debt levels. These findings hold significant implications for policymakers seeking to craft effective economic and environmental strategies to ensure sustainable development in the ASEAN-5 region. Stronger economic growth can drive up public debt. Importantly, the study highlights the importance of tailored approaches, considering each country’s unique fiscal and developmental characteristics. Applying the Two-Gap Model enhances the understanding of these complex dynamics in shaping public debt and its relationship with environmental factors.

This paper considers the problems surrounding the implementation of road infrastructure plans in a policy perspective. As the main pillar of regional connectivity, road networks provide the link across national markets, foster strong and sustainable economic growth, help meeting people’s basic needs, and promote trade and competiveness. It is argued that planning, implementing, and managing good transportation infrastructures poses a series of challenges that require competence, good governance, and the availability of funds. Such problems become more complex when road projects encompass different states and become transnational. The regional dimension of connectivity involves both opportunities and risks; a cooperative attitude by all parties is viewed as the best ingredient to achieve a positive balance. Since most countries cannot still rely on domestic resources, the paper stresses the role of virtuous policies in directing capital flows from abroad towards the infrastructural projects of Southeast Asia.

This paper examines the relationship between renewable energy (RE) generation, economic factors, infrastructure, and governance quality in ASEAN countries. Based on the Fixed Effects regression model on panel data spanning the years 2002–2021, results demonstrate that domestic capital investment, foreign direct investment, governance effectiveness, and crude oil price exhibit an inverse yet significant relationship with RE generation. An increase in those factors will lead to a decline in RE generation. Meanwhile, economic growth and infrastructure have a positive relationship, which implies that these factors act as stimulants for RE generation in the region. Hence, it is advisable to prioritise policies that foster economic growth, including offering tax breaks specifically for RE projects. Additionally, it’s crucial to streamline governance processes to facilitate infrastructure conducive to RE generation, along with investing in RE infrastructure. This could be achieved by establishing one-stop centres for consolidating permitting processes, which would streamline the often-bureaucratic process. However, given the extensive time period covered, future research should examine the short-term relationship between the variables to address any potential temporal trends between the factors and RE generation.

This article focuses on studying how transportation connectivity affects Vietnam’s trade with Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries. By using a gravity model, the article applies fixed effects (FE) and random effects (RE) to analyze panel data on trade, GDP, tariffs, border effects, and indicators. The number represents Vietnam’s transport connectivity with ASEAN countries from 2004 to 2021. Research results show that transport connectivity hurts Vietnam’s trade with other countries. ASEAN. The article proposes solutions for the Government and Vietnamese export enterprises to promote intra-ASEAN trade in the direction of increasing the added value of Vietnam’s imported and exported goods within ASEAN countries and balancing between Developing intra-ASEAN and foreign trade.