The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), in collaboration with Economist Impact, presented the most recent edition of the report Infrascopewhich analyzes the progress and challenges in Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) for infrastructure development in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The tool evaluates the status of PPPs in the region, highlighting efforts to promote more sustainable infrastructuresinclusive and resilient, in addition to strengthening regulatory and institutional frameworks.
According to the IDBthe infrastructure gaps in Latin America and the Caribbean they exceed 250,000 million dollars annually, which underlines the need to increase investment in the sector.
Ana MarÃa Ibañez, vice president of Sectors and Knowledge of the IDBhighlighted that the countries of the region need increase your investments in infrastructure by 70%, to close these gaps, since if they do not do so, they could lose up to 15% of the growth of the gross domestic product (GDP) in the next ten years. “If we do not invest more, we could compromise our economic future,” he warned.
Public-private collaboration as a key to success
The report highlights that, in the last 30 years, the region has attracted more than 760 billion dollars of private capital towards infrastructure through PPP. This highlights the importance of strengthening countries’ capacity to develop projects that take advantage of synergies between the public and private sectors.
“Must choose projects well and do it efficiently“said Ibañez, emphasizing that collaboration with private companies is crucial to face the economic and infrastructure challenges in the region.
Within the framework of the 15th anniversary of the Infrascope, the IDB and Economist Impact have updated the report methodology to address current issues such as resilience, inclusion and impact evaluation.
Likewise, new sectors have been incorporated, such as social infrastructureand the coverage of the analysis has been expanded to the 26 borrowing countries of the IDBthey indicated at the virtual launch of the tool.
He number of countries with projects of APP has grown significantly in the region; In 2009, only one country had these programs, while today there are 20 that actively participate, he indicated.
The current edition of Infrascope It also highlights the need to improve the performance measurement and the strategic planning of PPPs to maximize the social and economic impact of the projects.
In a macroeconomic context, he assured that the investment opportunities Joint efforts between the public and private sectors are presented as essential to address the growing demands for infrastructure and improve the quality of life of citizens in Latin America and the Caribbean.
He IDB reaffirms that, despite progress, there are still important opportunities for the countries of the region, which require adequate planning, sustainable investments and collaboration between sectors and countries to overcome the structural barriers and prepare for more inclusive and equitable growth, the executive concluded.
