Singapore, US sign pact to cooperate on infrastructure finance

Singapore

SINGAPORE and the US have inked a pact to strengthen cooperation in infrastructure finance and debt market development for infrastructure financing.

The agreement was signed in Washington on Wednesday by Second Finance Minister Indranee Rajah and US Deputy Treasury Secretary Justin Muzinich.

The signing took place on the sidelines of the G-20 Finance Ministers' and Central Bank Governors' Meeting and the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group.

According to a statement from Singapore's Ministry of Finance (MOF), the agreement builds on the broader cooperation between the two countries to facilitate technical exchanges and information sharing, support infrastructure development in South-east Asia and promote private-sector investments.

These may include crowding in institutional investors such as pension funds and insurance companies, and developing debt markets for infrastructure investments.

The new pact will be implemented by agencies such as the MOF, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

The US is currently Singapore's third-largest trading partner in goods and top trading partner in services, and also Singapore's largest foreign direct investor by country.

Singapore is the US' largest goods and services trading partner in South-east Asia, as well as its fourth-largest investor from Asia.

Ms Indranee is on a six-day visit to Chile and the US that ends on Saturday. Accompanying her are officials from MOF, MAS, Enterprise Singapore and Infrastructure Asia.

The announcement on Thursday follows five other pacts that Singapore signed during the Asia Infrastructure Forum held in the first week of October.

These included agreements with Cambodia's Ministry of Economy and Finance on sewage and waste water treatment, with Indonesia's Sarana Multi Infrastruktur on public-private partnership (PPP) capacity building, and with the Philippines' PPP Centre to develop and implement projects.

Also exchanged were collaboration agreements with the World Bank Group on regional capacity building, and the Japan Overseas Infrastructure Investment Corporation for Transport and Urban Development on third-country projects in smart infrastructure.

The Global Infrastructure Hub has estimated that developing Asia requires US$51 trillion in infrastructure investment through 2040 to maintain its current growth momentum.