..Press Release................................ UNESCAP News Services

Date 30 August 2007
Press Release No: N/41/2007

UN Forum to Encourage Private Sector Participation in Infrastructure Development

Bangkok (United Nations Information Services) — Executive officers of private sector companies will have an opportunity to exchange ideas on public-private partnership (PPP) with ministers and senior government officials at a United Nations business forum to be held in October in Seoul, Republic of Korea.

The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) and the Korean Development Institute will jointly organize the Asia-Pacific Business Forum on Public-Private Partnership for Infrastructure Development on 4 October 2007 at the Shilla Hotel in Seoul.

At the forum, the private sector will be appraised of the current policy environment for PPP and priority projects in countries of the region. The forum will also provide the opportunity for the private sector to express their concerns in joining together with the public sector to develop infrastructure.

Following the forum, a Ministerial Conference on Public-Private Partnerships for Infrastructure Development, the first of its kind in the Asia-Pacific region, will be held on 5 October 2007. The meeting is expected to adopt the Draft Declaration on Public-Private Partnerships for Infrastructure Development which draws attention to the vital role that PPPs play in developing the region’s infrastructure and encourages donors to support implementation of the Declaration through information sharing.

PPPs and private finance initiatives (PFIs) are systems in which a government service or private business venture is funded and operated through a partnership between government and one or more private sector companies to develop both economic and social infrastructure.

Governments have progressively turned to the private sector for additional resources in funding infrastructure projects. World Bank data shows that between 1990 and 2005 the private sector made investments in 362 transport sector projects in the developing countries of the region. The total value of these projects exceeded US$ 60 billion.

The United Nations Secretariat is working on promoting intra-regional sharing of experiences in developing and implementing PPP projects among countries through a project involving regional commissions in Asia-Pacific, Europe and Africa. The forum is the latest effort by UNESCAP to bring the public and private sectors together for infrastructure development.

For more information please contact

Mr. John Moon Chief Transport Policy and Tourism Section Transport and Tourism Division, UNESCAP Tel: +6622881378 Email: moon.unescap@un.org

Mr. Brian Thomson Associate Information Officer United Nations Information Services UNESCAP Tel: +6622881869 Email: Thomsonb@un.org