A MEXICO-ASIA FORUM ON INFRASTRUCTURE FINANCING TAKES PLACE IN SINGAPORE

• Port projects in Veracruz and Guaymas were presented to Asian investors.

• The forum was organized by the governments of Mexico and Singapore and the World Bank office in Singapore.

• Representatives from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Communication and Transportation and Finance attended.

On behalf of the Mexican government, the Foreign Ministry’s embassy in Singapore, the Mexican Agency for International Development Cooperation (AMEXCID) and the Department for International Economic Promotion and Cooperation joined the World Bank office in Singapore in organizing a high-level Mexico-Asia forum on infrastructure financing in Singapore. Also participating were International Enterprise Singapore (IE) and the Singapore Cooperation Enterprise (SCE).

During the forum, the new law on public-private partnerships (PPPs), which marks the beginning of a new effort in Mexico to strengthen collaboration between the public and private sectors, was discussed. By investing 4.5% of its GDP in infrastructure, one of the highest rates within the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Mexico offers new investment opportunities in infrastructure to Asian companies.

The two PPP port projects in Veracruz and Guaymas were explained to potential investors, private equity funds, commercial and investment banks, the construction sector and suppliers of equipment and machinery in Singapore and other Asian countries. Both projects will become available to investors in the coming months.

The Foreign Ministry’s Director General of International Economic Cooperation and Promotion, Nathan Wolf, said: "Over the past six years, Mexico has seen that increased investment in the infrastructure sector has led to higher economic growth rates and more dynamic job creation. This is why it has enacted the new PPP law, which will boost foreign direct investment in Mexico and, at the same time, give certainty to investors, especially in this sector. Our country realizes that the Asian nations, as the new engine of global economic growth, have a key role in creating opportunities in infrastructure in Mexico and Latin America and in promoting the development of synergies between Asia and our region."

Singapore Permanent Secretary for Finance Peter Ong said that his country "is proud to play host to this Summit, an event that provides an excellent opportunity for legislators, experts and private investors to take advantage of the Asian experience and explore new markets in Mexico." In his opinion, "this Mexico-Asia partnership will promote more trans-Pacific integration and will strengthen the economic ties between the two regions."

"The World Bank is very happy to have convened this event, which matches major infrastructure projects in Mexico with Southeast Asian investors through our Global Infrastructure Finance Center of Excellence (GIFCOE) in Singapore," said the World Bank’s Director of the Sustainable Development Department of the Latin American region, Ede Ijjasz-Vasquez. He stressed that "this forum is a good example of the kind of initiatives that are of interest to the World Bank to enable it to facilitate South-South cooperation and investment and to encourage the flow of knowledge to support the development of infrastructure in developing countries."

The forum was attended by representatives from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Transportation and Communications and Finance, the Singapore government, the World Bank and the private sector, with the aim of sharing and transferring knowledge and capital for infrastructure development through PPPs between Mexico and Asia. The event helped investors, financiers, operators and contractors, law firms and other related businesses and industries to explore new markets and opportunities in Mexico to create new trans-Pacific partnerships.