Thank you for your ongoing interest in the Global Infrastructure Hub.
It is just over a year since the G20, at the Brisbane summit, made the commitment to establish the Hub.
Huge thanks must go to Australian Treasury for all the work done earlier in the year in setting up the Hub as a registered company, and for helping get a lot of the initial establishment work underway. Thank you also to Treasurer Scott Morrison and NSW Premier Mike Baird for hosting our formal launch event on 26 October at NSW Parliament House.
The last few months have been a particularly busy time for the Hub. Our headcount has moved quickly up to twelve, we have moved into brand new offices, got our work program well underway and held Board meetings in September and December.
In September the GIH Board approved our business plan, with the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors endorsing the plan. At its most recent meeting over the weekend, the Board approved our strategic priorities and deliverables for early 2016.
The Hub has a strategic vision to transform both investment environments and also investment processes. Key initial priorities include developing an online, interactive guide to existing infrastructure resources, creating the Capability Framework, a central tool for assessing investment environments, and planning for the development of a consolidated project pipeline. We will also be undertaking investor surveys to start addressing data gaps and commissioning an infrastructure deficit analysis to help bring a sharper focus to countries and regions facing the greatest infrastructure needs.
In the first quarter of 2016 we will be running a series of events to outline our priorities and to continue the process of seeking stakeholder views on these priorities.
Much of our work will require collaboration with both public and private sector partners. The meetings and discussions we have held so far have been enormously helpful in establishing the views and needs of those involved in infrastructure funding and financing. We will be continuing with our engagement program as we deliver on our work program and we plan to introduce some interactive features onto our website in 2016, which will provide a further mechanism for stakeholder input.
Wishing you all a safe and happy festive season.
Chris Heathcote
CEO, Global Infrastructure Hub