Aligning Southeast Asian industrial strategies with the SDGs: A nexus framework for regional competitiveness and sustainable transformation

The race towards sustainable industrialization presents a complex challenge for Southeast Asia's emerging economies. National industrial strategies, designed to achieve high-income status through technological upgrading (SDG 8, SDG 9), exemplify the regional tension between rapid industrial growth and environmental sustainability commitments (SDG 13). This review addresses this policy dilemma by applying an SDG nexus framework to evaluate the alignment between industrial ambitions and sustainable development targets, situated within a comparative benchmark of four key ASEAN nations: Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. Through a critical analysis of national policy documents and a systematic synthesis of 72 peer-reviewed articles, we identify areas requiring critical improvement. Our findings reveal a significant policy incoherence, particularly within Indonesia, where short-term economic efficiency goals often eclipse long-term ecological resilience and circularity principles (SDG 12). The regional comparison highlights that while Indonesia possesses a large industrial base, it lags behind its peers in high-technology exports and faces severe social and environmental sustainability challenges, defining its current trajectory as a 'low-tech, high-impact' model. Conversely, we identify powerful synergies where investment in green technologies—such as renewable energy integration (SDG 7) and digitalized resource management—can boost competitiveness and reduce the region's carbon footprint. The review concludes by proposing an integrated policy framework for Southeast Asia, designed to embed sustainability at the core of industrial strategy. This research provides actionable, context-specific insights for harmonizing industrial and environmental objectives, ensuring industrial modernization becomes an engine for truly sustainable development.