S'pore tops Asia infrastructure survey

S'pore tops Asia infrastructure survey

SINGAPORE (Reuter): Singapore has come first in an
infrastructure survey of expatriates living in Asia, according to
a report by the Political & Economic Risk Consultancy Ltd.

Hong Kong-based PERC asked 265 expatriate executives about the
extent to which physical infrastructure deficiencies impeded
their ability to do business.

It said in nine out of the 12 countries covered in the survey,
expatriate perceptions were more negative this year than a year
ago when the same question was asked.

For best infrastructure, Singapore headed the list, followed
by Hong Kong and Japan.

"Of the developing Asian countries, Malaysia has probably done
the best job of putting in a modern infrastructure," PERC said.

It said the Philippines "deserves special favorable comment"
as the government seems to be pushing the hardest to put new
infrastructure in place.

"Although the quality of Philippine infrastructure is still
poor, everything from the reliability of power supplies to access
to phone lines has improved markedly in recent years due to
initiatives of the Ramos government," it said.

PERC said the survey also underscored the importance of the
link between financial sector and other reforms.

"Those countries with the best rated physical infrastructures
are also the ones with the most developed financial systems."

PERC said the capital needed to fund Asia's infrastructure
needs were huge and though personal savings rates were high in
Asia, many economies were inefficient in mobilizing these savings
and channeling them into productive investments.

China, Vietnam, Thailand and South Korea are examples of such
"inefficient mobilization of domestic financial resources".

"A common trait of all four of these economies is that their
domestic banking systems have been protected from foreign
competition and the capital allocation process has a large
political dimension."

The report said given that many of the economies in the region
were reluctant to embark on substantive financial sector reform,
it was doubtful actual spending on new infrastructure would reach
the levels projected by the World Bank.

The bank has projected that US$1.5 trillion needs to be spent
on Asian infrastructure projects between 1995 and 2004.

"A lot of the projects governments are talking about are
really more wish-lists than bankable plans," PERC said.