ADB economist looks to PPP for infrastructure needs
Yasuyuki Sawada is the first Japanese national appointed as chief economist at the Asian Development Bank. In an interview with the Nikkei Asian Review, he called for private-sector funding to meet the huge demand for infrastructure in Asia. This could be achieved through public-private partnerships (PPP) and creating frameworks that would facilitate entry of businesses into infrastructure projects. An ADB report released in February estimates that infrastructure needs of developing economies in the Asia-Pacific region between 2016 and 2030 will reach $26 trillion. The challenge is how to finance them. Excerpts from the interview follow. Q. How should developing countries fund their infrastructure? A. Our estimate covers 45 countries and regions, including China, India and Indonesia. Their annual needs will exceed $1.7 trillion, including costs to mitigate the impact of climate change. Of the 45 economies, 25 major countries account for 96% of the total population. Together they invest $881 billion per year for infrastructure. That’s only about 65% of their combined needs of $1.34 trillion for the 2016-2020 period.
