Quang Nam (VNA) – Investment in infrastructure is significant to thefuture growth of APEC economies, said Secretary-General of the Organisationfor Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Angel Gurria.

Talking with Vietnam News Agency reporters on the sidelines of the APEC 2017Finance Ministers’ Meeting which is underway in the central province of QuangNam, the OECD Secretary-General stressed that infrastructure plays animportant role in improving productivity and competitiveness of all economiesin the Asia-Pacific.

He said: “Infrastructure is not only the hard one, it means not only bridgesand highways, ports and airports, but it also includes soft infrastructureincluding education and skills. And how to mobilise capital for hardinfrastructure is as important as for the soft one”.

Gurria underlined the importance of financial cooperation to promoteinfrastructure in the region and APEC economies should put forth experienceexchange in how to mobilise capital for infrastructure projects.

“Financing is a tool and leverage for infrastructure development, thus it isclearly important to lure investors to infrastructure projects”, he stated.

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Convincingenterprises to land long-term investment in infrastructure means showing themthe projects’ potential, and that they will give the investors higher yieldthan they put money in the bank, he said, adding that investors are allinterested in low interest rates.

Long-term investment ininfrastructure is one of the four priorities initiated by Vietnam in the APEC2017. The focus is the mobilisation of long-termcapital from the private sector for infrastructure projects, especiallyprotection of interests and risk mitigation for private investors in public-privatepartnership (PPP) projects.

Experienceof international organisations and APEC member economies in handling PPPprojects, especially risk sharing between the State and private investors wasone of the discussion topics at the Finance and Central Bank Deputies Meeting (FCBDM),the Senior Finance Officials Meeting (SFOM) and the Workshop on Long-termInvestment in Infrastructure (May 2017). APEC Senior Finance Officials haddiscussions with international organizations on effective instruments forproject management and concerted training activities for project managers inAPEC member economies.

Established in 1989, the Asia-Pacific EconomicCooperation (APEC) Forum comprises 21 economies, including Australia, Brunei,Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong (China), Indonesia, Japan, the Republic ofKorea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines,Russia, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, the US, and Vietnam.-VNA