Singaporean Minister of Finance Heng Swee Keat delivers a speech at the 8th World Bank-Singapore Infrastructure Finance Summit (Source: www.channelnewsasia.com)Singapore (VNA) - Infrastructure development projects inSoutheast Asia will create significant financing needs and the Association ofSoutheast Asian Nations (ASEAN) must do more to attract private capital to plugthe gap, said Singaporean Minister of Finance Heng Swee Keat.
In a keynote speech delivered at the 8th World Bank-SingaporeInfrastructure Finance Summit on April 5, Heng said these infrastructure developmentopportunities come as member states strive towards the ASEAN Economic Community(AEC) 2025 vision, which has infrastructure linkages as one of its primarygoals, and amid rapid urbanisation within the region.
Citing figures from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the ministersaid Southeast Asia’s infrastructure investment needs will total 2.8 trillionUSD between 2016 and 2030, or about 184 billion USD annually.
Heng noted that much of the responsibility for infrastructurespending has traditionally fallen on the shoulders of thegovernments. While ASEAN must continue to prioritise infrastructurespending to sustain growth, it needs to look beyond the public sector tofinance these expenditures, he added.
While there have been successful examplesof ASEAN members tapping the private capital market for infrastructurefinancing, more of such collaboration can be fostered in three ways: increasingvisibility, improving bankability and enhancing data availability of investmentopportunities and projects in the region, the minister suggested.
On its own, Singapore has set up anInfrastructure Office called Infrastructure Asia, and is allowing its statutoryboards and government-owned companies to explore issuing bonds to financeinfrastructure building, Heng said.
Sharing the view, ASEAN ministers emphasisedthe importance of mobilising private resources, along with public investmentand foreign funding, for essential infrastructure development projects.
They also stressed the need to build afavourable legal framework and a clear policy for private investors to pourinvestments into infrastructure projects.
According to Deputy Minister of Finance Tran Xuan Ha, theGovernment of Vietnam is committed to maintaining a stable investmentenvironment and creating an optimal legal corridor for infrastructuredevelopers by revising and supplementing a decree on build-operate-transfer (BOT)and public-private partnership (PPP) forms.-VNA
In a keynote speech delivered at the 8th World Bank-SingaporeInfrastructure Finance Summit on April 5, Heng said these infrastructure developmentopportunities come as member states strive towards the ASEAN Economic Community(AEC) 2025 vision, which has infrastructure linkages as one of its primarygoals, and amid rapid urbanisation within the region.
Citing figures from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the ministersaid Southeast Asia’s infrastructure investment needs will total 2.8 trillionUSD between 2016 and 2030, or about 184 billion USD annually.
Heng noted that much of the responsibility for infrastructurespending has traditionally fallen on the shoulders of thegovernments. While ASEAN must continue to prioritise infrastructurespending to sustain growth, it needs to look beyond the public sector tofinance these expenditures, he added.
While there have been successful examplesof ASEAN members tapping the private capital market for infrastructurefinancing, more of such collaboration can be fostered in three ways: increasingvisibility, improving bankability and enhancing data availability of investmentopportunities and projects in the region, the minister suggested.
On its own, Singapore has set up anInfrastructure Office called Infrastructure Asia, and is allowing its statutoryboards and government-owned companies to explore issuing bonds to financeinfrastructure building, Heng said.
Sharing the view, ASEAN ministers emphasisedthe importance of mobilising private resources, along with public investmentand foreign funding, for essential infrastructure development projects.
They also stressed the need to build afavourable legal framework and a clear policy for private investors to pourinvestments into infrastructure projects.
According to Deputy Minister of Finance Tran Xuan Ha, theGovernment of Vietnam is committed to maintaining a stable investmentenvironment and creating an optimal legal corridor for infrastructuredevelopers by revising and supplementing a decree on build-operate-transfer (BOT)and public-private partnership (PPP) forms.-VNA
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