Source: The Hindu

Can an Asia-Pacific Special Purpose Vehicle serve the objective?

FUNDING INFRASTRUCTURE projects has become a major issue for several developing countries, notably in Asia. The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) has been trying to nudge the countries in the region to look closely and collectively at this growing crisis and come up with a regional solution. Last year, ESCAP's Executive Secretary Kim Hak-Su took up this question with the Government of India and asked New Delhi to take the initiative, since India itself needed a whopping $300 billion over the next five years to fund infrastructure projects.

Regional cooperation

During March this year, ESCAP and the leading Indian think tank Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS) jointly organised a two-day high level policy dialogue on "Regional cooperation for infrastructure development and financing in Asia-Pacific.'' It was attended by participants from across the region, including 100 government ministers, officials, academics and CEOs from the private sector, representing about 20 countries. They jointly suggested the setting up of a regional mechanism to utilise the large amount of savings in the region for this much-needed investment.

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Posted by pichu at April 2, 2007 4:34 PM