S'pore hosts G20-OECD roundtable; urges more institutional investment in infrastructure

SINGAPORE - To close Asia's widening infrastructure gap, nations must mobilise the resources of non-bank institutional investors, Ministry of Finance deputy secretary Yee Ping Yi said on Thursday.

"There's an estimated US$50 trillion worth of assets held by institutional investors such as pension funds, sovereign wealth funds and insurance companies. Only 0.8 per cent of these assets are currently allocated to infrastructure," he said in a speech at the G20-OECD Singapore High Level Roundtable on Institutional Investors and Long-Term Investment, held at the Equarius Hotel in Sentosa.

"With tighter banking liquidity for long tenor loans arising from new regulations, there is a need to do more to mobilise the resources of non-bank institutional investors," said Mr Yee.

By 2025, infrastructure needs in Asia are expected to reach US$5.36 trillion annually. Public resources will not be able to close this gap alone, Mr Yee said.

Singapore's Ministry of Finance is hosting some 200 delegates from the public and private sectors for a four-day series of G20-related investment and infrastructure meetings this week, under the aegis of the G20 Turkish Presidency and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The four-day event concludes Thursday, and the outcomes of the meetings will guide the discussion by national leaders at the G20 Leaders' Summit in November.

Singapore is not a member of the Group of 20 countries, which comprises the world's 20 largest developed and developing economies that make up about two-thirds of the world's population. But this will be the fifth year that Singapore is invited to the G20 Summit.

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