CEBU, Philippines- Recognizing the importance of investing in infrastructure, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation finance ministers are set to discuss and launch the Cebu Action Plan on a Financial Roadmap this month.
They identified “Accelerating Infrastructure Development and Financing” as one of the roadmap’s four pillars.
The ten-year Plan calls member economies to set regional standards for Private-Private-Partnership terms and practices as well as to maximize PPP’s role in infrastructure investment, through collaboration with international organizations such as the Asian Development Bank, World Bank, and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
In a statement APEC said it is finding pragmatic and practicable ways to address the infrastructure needs of the region in its collective pursuit for a more integrated and connected Asia-Pacific.
Also, in support of the goal of regional connectivity by 2025, APEC is placing particular emphasis on quality infrastructure as a necessary component of economic growth at the Third Senior Official’s Meeting (SOM3) and the Finance Ministers’ Meeting to be held in Cebu, respectively on September 5 to 6 and September 10 to 11.
It defined growth as not only physically connecting the Asia-Pacific region but also ensuring the efficient movement of goods, services, and people between and within borders.
In the same statement, it said quality infrastructure directly supports efficient transportation and telecommunication services, air and sea ports, customs procedures, energy distribution, farm-to-fork logistics, among others.
In 2014, APEC Leaders endorsed The Action Agenda on Promoting Infrastructure Investment through PPP to offer an alternative to traditional procurement methods and address the issue of capital shortages for infrastructure construction in the region.
The Agenda further supported the work of the APEC PPP Experts Advisory Panel—established to promote government’s capacity building in PPP project implementation and to support regional PPP Centers—and the ongoing implementation of the APEC Multi-Year Plan on Infrastructure Development and Investment launched in 2013.
Parallel to the finance ministers’ discussions on infrastructure investment next week, senior officials will also hold the inaugural meeting of the Friends of the Chair on Urbanization on September 3 to discuss, among others, ways how APEC can improve strategic infrastructure to support industry clusters, logistics systems, transportation, ICTs and social infrastructure within a city, between cities, and among economies.
APEC member economies’ rising urban population is expected to account for 60 percent of the total population in 2030 and 70 percent in 2050. (FREEMAN)