Policy-makers, multilateral representatives and leading institutional investors discuss the latest diplomatic moves and other initiatives to increase long-term private sector funding of infrastructure projects. How are governments responding? What are large asset owners and financiers specifically looking for from efforts to improve the environment for long-term infrastructure investment? To what extent is project lending and financing being affected by interest rate uncertainty and regulatory reforms like Basel III? Can long-term project financing be ring-fenced from the vagaries of global financial cycles? Are the right projects being offered, and what can be done to develop a robust pipeline?

As efforts intensify to boost long-term investment in infrastructure, much attention is being placed on the financing instruments and structures that can be put into place to provide the risk profile, rates of return and other incentives necessary to attract the enormous funds required. The public-private partnerships that are built to facilitate these investments and implementation of the projects have to work, and a range of funding sources – from direct equity to project bonds – have to be considered. In the emerging markets with the greatest need, what can be learned from the PPP programmes and financing structures that have worked elsewhere? In markets with strong Islamic populations, such as Indonesia and Malaysia, can Islamic finance play a role in solving the problem?

Senior representatives from local authorities, state-owned corporations and other sub-national and non-sovereign entities discuss the challenges of financing infrastructure projects. Drawing upon specific examples of key infrastructure initiatives in their respective geographies, panelists discuss what their administrations are doing to make public-private partnerships operate more effectively. How do they work with investors and contractors? What methods are they using to tap private sector finance? What impact is the economic and regulatory environment having on the creditworthiness of their fund-raising entities and their ability to access capital markets? How do they see the situation evolving over time, given the new initiatives by the G20 and multilateral agencies?