APEC May Agree to Promote Infrastructure Development by 2030

Tokyo, Sept. 25 (Jiji Press)--Member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum at their annual summit in October are expected to set a goal of promoting the development of infrastructure such as power stations, ports and airports in the region by 2030, Jiji Press learned Wednesday. Based on the envisaged goal, each member economy will promote the development of high-quality infrastructure in order to attract private-sector investment and strengthen the growth foundations of the Asia-Pacific region, according to informed sources. The APEC summit is set be held in Bali, Indonesia, on Oct. 7-8, following a ministerial meeting among the 21 member economies on the resort island on Oct. 4-5. Indonesia, this year's chair of the APEC forum, has proposed setting the target year for accelerating infrastructure development, according to Japanese government officials. Creating a framework to enhance the region's economic ties in one of major agenda items set by the Southeast Asian country for this year's APEC summit. At a meeting of trade ministers in April, APEC members agreed to work out a multiyear program for boosting infrastructure investment. At the upcoming summit, APEC leaders are seen agreeing to set the target year at 2030 and include it in a joint declaration to sum up their discussions or in an attached document, the sources said. In a related move, the Japanese government has proposed the compilation of guidelines on infrastructure development in the APEC region. Tokyo hopes the guidelines will stipulate that not only prices but also medium- to long-term costs related to durability and environmental performances be taken into consideration in bidding procedures to select contractors for infrastructure development projects. Japan also plans to include in the guidelines steps to ensure transparency in bidding procedures and measures to help emerging economies develop human resources for the designing of infrastructure projects. The 21 APEC members are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam. END