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Brazil is positioned to attract more private sector investment into infrastructure and to bring further bankable projects to market following an 18-month engagement program between the Global Infrastructure Hub (GI Hub) and the Brazilian Government.

Institutional investors are facing growing calls for a stronger engagement in development, in particular for infrastructure, climate and social investments. The investment requirements for global sustainable development are huge. State budgets are already stretched in most emerging markets and developing countries (EMDE), with tax bases weakened and public debt piling up.

In this blog, Svetlana and Roberto discuss the major cross-border projects currently being planned and delivered with Russia’s involvement, and the importance of comprehensive quality assessment in delivering these projects. Their discussion practically illustrates several elements of successful cross-border project delivery that are detailed in the GI Hub’s cross-border reference guide, Connectivity Across Border.

Latin American and the Caribbean (LAC) countries have a large, and increasing, infrastructure quantitative, qualitative and efficiency gap. The lack of sufficient physical assets, inadequate maintenance and poor service provision negatively impacts the quality of life of its population and the competitiveness of its economies.   Over the last three decades public investment remains low at less than 2% of GDP, half of what East Asia invests in infrastructure per year. During the COVID-19 economic crisis, although the need for increasing public investment has grown this hasn’t translated into reality. Historically public investment will not increase because the region is characterized by a bias against infrastructure assets in favor of current expenditures during economic crises. Additionally, investment in infrastructure in LAC is perceived as a risky proposition in times of fiscal imbalances and debt growth. The average fiscal package to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 was 8.5% of GDP and deficits increased by an average of 5.3% of GDP in 2020, propelling the public debt from 58% of GDP in 2019 to 72% in 2020 and it could continue to rise to 76% in 2023.  Preliminary estimates confirm that governments in LAC invested less than 1.5% of GDP in infrastructure in 2020, not a promising scenario for a major shift in public investment to close the regional infrastructure gap.

The interactive workshop was a lively and comprehensive overview of how the circular economy can be a framework for economic growth solutions and highlighted the roles that governments around the world can play to enable circularity in infrastructure.

With signs of increasing international cooperation on climate change, including the Biden Administration’s commitment to halve America’s net greenhouse gas pollution by 2030, we may finally see new levels of momentum for transnational or cross-border renewable energy projects, which the United Nations has cited as required for the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 7: Affordable and Clean Energy.

InfraChallenge 2021 invited ideas for building and maintaining better, more resilient infrastructure. Discover who made the Top 20.

The urgent need for resilient infrastructure is widely acknowledged as pressure mounts on governments around the world to drive a post-pandemic recovery that embodies the promise of ‘building back better.’ Today, we look at what the pandemic has shown us about resilience in infrastructure and what resilient infrastructure might look like in the future.

The G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBGs) met yesterday and issued a Communiqué outlining their collective commitments and priorities. The Communiqué cites several GI Hub tools that will help G20 countries and others harness the transformative potential of infrastructure and attract private investment in infrastructure.

This week the Global Infrastructure Hub in partnership with Infrastructure Australia hosted the first meeting of our international forum of infrastructure bodies. The forum is a small group dedicated to sharing best practice amongst organisations in G20 and other countries that undertake independent, long-term infrastructure planning in their jurisdictions. The purpose of the forum is to create a platform where I-Bodies from across the world can meet and exchange ideas, experiences and learnings.

Last week Maud de Vautibault, Director of Practical Tools and Knowledge at the Global Infrastructure Hub participated in a roundtable discussion with the World Association of PPP Units and Professionals (WAPPP)

Meet three women leaders who are transforming infrastructure development in Latin America.

Global Infrastructure Hub recently hosted a presentation and panel discussion of Connectivity across Borders, our latest reference guide, which presents global practices for the successful delivery of infrastructure that crosses national borders.

David Baxter discusses how climate change and COVID-19 reveals an urgent need for resilient infrastructure.

Last month Infrastructure Australia released its infrastructure Priority List for 2021, revealing a record number of new investment opportunities, with 44 new proposals added to the list in response to COVID- 19. A $59 billion project pipeline was identified, with six high priority projects, 17 priority projects, 48 high project initiatives and 109 priority initiatives.

Discover how you can get involved with InfraChallenge 2021, applications close 12 March.

The Global Infrastructure Hub (GI Hub) strives to be an organisation where the different backgrounds and perspectives of our people contribute to diversity of thought and approach, enabling us to better live our values and achieve our mission. This diversity includes gender diversity with an awareness of our particular ability to bring attention to the need for gender equality and inclusion in infrastructure.