S'pore tops Asia infrastructure survey<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE (Reuter): Singapore has come first in an
\ninfrastructure survey of expatriates living in Asia, according to
\na report by the Political & Economic Risk Consultancy Ltd.<\/p>\n
Hong Kong-based PERC asked 265 expatriate executives about the
\nextent to which physical infrastructure deficiencies impeded
\ntheir ability to do business.<\/p>\n
It said in nine out of the 12 countries covered in the survey,
\nexpatriate perceptions were more negative this year than a year
\nago when the same question was asked.<\/p>\n
For best infrastructure, Singapore headed the list, followed
\nby Hong Kong and Japan.<\/p>\n
"Of the developing Asian countries, Malaysia has probably done
\nthe best job of putting in a modern infrastructure," PERC said.<\/p>\n
It said the Philippines "deserves special favorable comment"
\nas the government seems to be pushing the hardest to put new
\ninfrastructure in place.<\/p>\n
"Although the quality of Philippine infrastructure is still
\npoor, everything from the reliability of power supplies to access
\nto phone lines has improved markedly in recent years due to
\ninitiatives of the Ramos government," it said.<\/p>\n
PERC said the survey also underscored the importance of the
\nlink between financial sector and other reforms.<\/p>\n
"Those countries with the best rated physical infrastructures
\nare also the ones with the most developed financial systems."<\/p>\n
PERC said the capital needed to fund Asia's infrastructure
\nneeds were huge and though personal savings rates were high in
\nAsia, many economies were inefficient in mobilizing these savings
\nand channeling them into productive investments.<\/p>\n
China, Vietnam, Thailand and South Korea are examples of such
\n"inefficient mobilization of domestic financial resources".<\/p>\n
"A common trait of all four of these economies is that their
\ndomestic banking systems have been protected from foreign
\ncompetition and the capital allocation process has a large
\npolitical dimension."<\/p>\n
The report said given that many of the economies in the region
\nwere reluctant to embark on substantive financial sector reform,
\nit was doubtful actual spending on new infrastructure would reach
\nthe levels projected by the World Bank.<\/p>\n
The bank has projected that US$1.5 trillion needs to be spent
\non Asian infrastructure projects between 1995 and 2004.<\/p>\n
"A lot of the projects governments are talking about are
\nreally more wish-lists than bankable plans," PERC said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/spore-tops-asia-infrastructure-survey-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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