APEC to seek private funding for infrastructure<\/p>\n
CEBU, Philippines (Agencies): Members of the Asia-Pacific
\nEconomic Cooperation (APEC) are pushing for more private sector
\ninvestment in infrastructure in the region, participants at the
\nforum's four-day senior officials' meeting here said yesterday.<\/p>\n
"There's still a feeling that the actual level of private
\nsector participation is less than what is desirable and less than
\nwhat government is hoping for," World Bank senior adviser for
\nEast Asia and the Pacific, Harinder Kohli, also a member of
\nAPEC's infrastructure workshop, said in a statement.<\/p>\n
The problems blocking private sector investment in the
\nregion's infrastructure projects were lack of clear government
\nobjectives, slow government decision-making, lack of a proper
\nlegal and regulatory framework and inadequate capital markets, he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Kohli said a possible solution mulled by forum members was the
\nsharing of investment risks.<\/p>\n
"The commercial risk can be taken by the private sector and
\nthe sovereign risk related to government policy and regulation
\ncan be taken by the public sector," he was quoted by Reuters as
\nsaying.<\/p>\n
Deputy trade and foreign ministers of APEC are meeting in the
\ncentral Philippine city of Cebu to draw up action plans to
\nliberalize trade and investments in the region.<\/p>\n
The forum, potentially the world's biggest, wealthiest and
\nmost diverse regional trade grouping comprises Australia, Brunei,
\nCanada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia,
\nMexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines,
\nSingapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and the United States.<\/p>\n
At yesterday's meeting, the senior officials meeting also
\nnamed a high-powered group of business executives to advise the
\ngroup on trade and investment issues.<\/p>\n
AFP reported that the APEC Business Advisory Council includes
\nSalomon Brothers chief executive Robert Denham, Frank Boman of
\nBoeing Corp., Lee Hsien Yang, president of Singapore
\nTelecommunications Ltd., and Bae Soon Hoon, chief executive of
\nSouth Korea's Daewoo Electronics Co. Ltd.<\/p>\n
Other members named earlier this month include Gordon Wu of
\nHong Kong's Hopewell Holdings Ltd., Jeffrey Ko, chairman of
\nTaiwan's China Trust Commercial Bank, Yao Jinrong, executive
\ndirector of China International Trust and Investment Corp. and
\nMinoru Murofushi, president of Japan's Itochu Corp.<\/p>\n
The council is an initiative of an APEC summit Osaka in 1995.
\nIt replaced the Pacific Business Forum initiated in APEC's
\ninaugural summit in Seattle in 1993.<\/p>\n
The advisory group will hold its first meeting from June 14 to
\n16 in Manila, during which members will identify the private
\nsector's concerns to be presented in a dialogue with world
\nleaders during an APEC summit to be hosted by the Philippines on
\nNov. 25.<\/p>\n
The four-day senior officials meeting here that ends Saturday
\nis the second of four such conferences ahead of the Nov. 25
\nsummit.<\/p>\n
Antonio Basilio, the deputy chairman of the senior officials'
\nmeeting, said the business council has been "given the mandate to
\nrelay the view of the private sector" to leaders of APEC's 18
\nmember economies.<\/p>",
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