Contacts World Bank: Roger Morier + 1 202 369 1852 rmorier@worldbank.org European Commission: John Clancy + 32 2 29 53 773 John.clancy@ec.europa.eu BRUSSELS, July 9, 2009 – The European Commission, the World Bank, and many of their development partners have begun two days of meetings here to increase their coordination of, and their support to, critical infrastructure initiatives in developing countries hard hit by the global economic downturn. Representatives from multilateral development banks, the European Investment Bank, bilateral development agencies, and development financing organizations have gathered to draw attention to the financing gaps that face many developing countries as they seek to protect existing infrastructure and plan new infrastructure projects or programs to create jobs and boost their economies. The meetings are taking place under the umbrella of INFRA, the Infrastructure Recovery and Assets platform launched by the World Bank, and now including many other development partners. “We are seeing declining investments in national infrastructure plans as a result of the global economic crisis,” said Katherine Sierra, World Bank Vice President for Sustainable Development. “Past experience, such as during the Asian crisis of the late 1990’s, clearly tells us that this is not the time to cut back, but rather the time to ramp up infrastructure investments. In the past year, we have raised our infrastructure financing by almost 20% to $20 billion, yet we know that more is needed to help countries emerge from the downturn more quickly and move more quickly into sustained economic growth and poverty reduction.” Stefano Manservisi, Director General for Development and Relations with African, Caribbean and Pacific States in the European Commission, said: "As we did in Europe, we should invest in infrastructure as a means to create growth and jobs in developing countries. If development policy is going to help tackle poverty, aid needs to become much better at leveraging other sources of finance. Europe accounts for almost 60% of official aid and the World Bank is one of the largest sources of financial and technical assistance. Organising this seminar together is another example of how we can help developing countries cope with the current economic crisis." The global financial crisis has depressed investments in infrastructure projects, particularly in developing countries. The economic crisis may also result in countries compromising on their environmental and climate oriented commitments due to the need to reallocate budget resources to more short-term actions. Public and private sector investments for new infrastructure, as well as funds for the necessary maintenance of existing infrastructure in developing countries, are at risk due to the crisis. Infrastructure projects are widely recognized as a key to job creation and laying the ground work for future productivity and growth. Because of its labor intensity, infrastructure is an important element in most government stimulus packages around the globe. The catalytic role of infrastructure in poverty reduction has also been recognized in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which single out access to water supply and sanitation service targets to be achieved by 2015. Delegates to the meetings in Brussels plan to share information about how best to continue supporting infrastructure projects or programs in developing countries. They will also seek to coordinate their support for future projects, and consider the creation of a new project preparation facility. About INFRA INFRA is an international partnership designed to respond to the financial and economic crisis affecting developing countries by increasing investment in and support to infrastructure investments. The objectives of the INFRA Platform are to: (a) assist partner country governments respond to the negative effects of the global crisis on their infrastructure services and investment programs; (b) provide them with customized policy options to minimize the impact of the crisis, while limiting market distortions; and (c) provide technical and financial support for continued private sector activity and for public investment projects in infrastructure. For more information, see: www.worldbank.org/infra About the World Bank The World Bank is a multilateral development institution and one of the world’s largest sources of financial and technical assistance to developing countries around the world. Comprised of 185 member governments, its primary focus is to help the world’s poorest people and the poorest countries. The World Bank uses its financial resources, its staff, and extensive experience to help developing countries reduce poverty, increase economic growth, and improve their quality of life. For more information, see: www.worldbank.org About the European Commission and Development The European Commission is at the heart of EU development policy. Together with the 27 EU Member States, Europe has been at the forefront of efforts to scale up public aid, to make aid more effective and to make other policies such as trade, regional integration, and agriculture coherent with development goals and cross cutting themes. Since Lisbon 2007, the EU Africa Partnerships, including on infrastructure, are driving the dialogue between Europe and Africa on equal footing. For more information, see http://ec.europa.eu/development/index_en.cfm # |
RSS