Singapore Supports G20 Infrastructure Agenda

Singapore hosts G20-Related Infrastructure Meetings

1. Experts on infrastructure and investment from all G20 countries are convening in Singapore this week to attend a four-day series of meetings hosted by the Singapore Ministry of Finance. Over 200 participants from the public sector, the private sector, and international organisations such as the World Bank, IMF and OECD are attending this week’s events.

2. The G20/OECD Singapore High-Level Roundtable on Institutional Investors and Long-Term Investment held today wraps up this series of meetings hosted by Singapore under the G20 Turkish Presidency.

Need for Greater Private Sector Participation in Infrastructure Financing

3. The High-Level Roundtable will discuss ways to close the infrastructure financing gap, in particular, by encouraging greater private sector investment. This is a critical issue for Asia. By 2025, infrastructure needs in Asia are expected to reach US$5.36 trillion annually^[1], and public fiscal resources are not sufficient to meet this demand. Private investments are thus critical in filling the infrastructure gap. Apart from conventional bank financing, there is an estimated US$50 trillion worth of assets held by institutional investors such as pension funds and insurance companies. Today, only 0.8% of these assets are allocated to infrastructure^[2].

A Multi-stakeholder Approach for Promoting Infrastructure Investment

4. Mr Yee Ping Yi, Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Finance Singapore, explains that liquidity and interest in infrastructure are not lacking. What is needed is a multi-stakeholder approach to promote conducive investment and regulatory environments, as well as to ensure well-structured bankable projects that are attractive to private investment.

5. It is important that the public sector, the private sector, and international organisations work closely together to promote infrastructure investment. This week’s industry networking dinner and High-Level Roundtable play an important role by bringing these stakeholders together and allowing for a useful exchange of innovative ideas”, says Mr Yee, who is the opening speaker at the Roundtable.

6. Meetings held earlier this week include a G20 Working Group meeting on investment and infrastructure, as well as an inaugural G20-World Bank Group-Singapore workshop on project prioritisation and preparation.

7. This week’s meetings establish a collective recognition by governments, industry practitioners, and multilateral organisations, on the priority measures needed to improve infrastructure financing. Mr Ho Meng Kit, Chief Executive Officer of the Singapore Business Federation noted “Our frank discussions with government officials and multilateral organisations show that we share similar concerns, such as how to increase the number of well-prepared bankable projects available for investment and development, and how to encourage the flow of long-term private financing into infrastructure. This year, B20’s recommendations to the G20 will have a bias towards implementation. There is scope for the various parties to come together to resolve the global infrastructure challenge and drive growth.”

8. The outcomes from this week’s meetings will provide guidance for the discussion by national leaders at the G20 Summit in November 2015. Singapore will attend the Summit in Antalya, Turkey. This is fifth year that Singapore is invited to the G20 Leaders’ Summit.

Issued by Ministry of Finance
28 May 2015
Singapore

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^[1] Source: "Capital Project and Infrastructure Spending: Outlook to 2025", PwC (2014).

^[2] Source: "The trillion-dollar gap", The Economist (22 March 2014).