Jakarta, Indonesia – 18 February 2022: As this is my first intervention, allow me to join my colleagues in congratulating Indonesia for hosting such a successful first Ministerial meeting.
Allow me to also commend the Presidency on its leadership in creating a set of priorities that build on the work of previous presidencies while setting a clear path to a more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable economy - with infrastructure as a key enabler.
The 2022 work program is built around four inter-linked priorities that focus on accelerating the uptake of sustainable infrastructure to support a transformative recovery, in particular by better leveraging the private sector. The GI Hub is pleased to support the Presidency’s ambitious infrastructure agenda in several ways:
- Firstly, we will continue to monitor G20 governments’ shift to sustainable infrastructure, by expanding our InfraTracker, which was built under the 2021 Italian Presidency. To date, the equivalent of USD3.2 trillion of infrastructure-dedicated stimulus has been announced across G20 economies. This includes 40% directed to environmentally sustainable outcomes. Our InfraTracker work this year will be focused on outlining transition pathways and long-term strategies and policies to ensure our infrastructure actions today are future proofed.
- Second, in addition to efforts from the public sector and development and international finance institutions, mobilising private capital remains key to closing the infrastructure financing gap. Private infrastructure investment has not increased worldwide in the last ten years. This needs to be addressed. Sustainable infrastructure will be a crucial avenue to encouraging private investment in all economies, especially as our research shows the superior performance of sustainable infrastructure investments compared with the overall sector. As part of our work, we will develop a framework to best leverage private sector participation to scale up sustainable infrastructure investment, focusing on addressing fragmentation and transparency of relevant instruments and reporting requirements. The GI Hub will facilitate this work with inputs from other international organisations (IOs), including the World Bank and OECD. This work will complement the ongoing work on the implementation of Quality Infrastructure Investment (QII) indicators, led by the International Finance Corporation.
- Third, inclusivity and gender mainstreaming are now also becoming a priority for many investors. Now is the time for governments, including this group, to consider the right policies and partnerships to enable more inclusive investments. We look forward to supporting our colleagues in other IOs in their work on enhancing social inclusion but also addressing sub-national disparities.
- Fourth, there is no doubt that the scale of sustainable infrastructure investments must be powered by digital and InfraTech investments. Therefore, we welcome the continuation of the work from the 2020 Saudi Arabian Presidency on scaling up the adoption of InfraTech. We look forward to working with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank to articulate a path forward for InfraTech.
Last but not least, following your endorsement of the extension of the GI Hub mandate in 2021, I look forward to discussing potential options with you by mid-2022 to strengthen our governance and secure full G20 member representation and a sustainable funding model, with the intention of reaching a final decision point by October 2022.
Infrastructure Technology
