RIYADH: A G20 task force held a virtual meeting under the international forum鈥檚 Saudi 2020 presidency to promote global infrastructure investment.
Delegates taking part in the G20-Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Task Force on Long-term Investment meeting, discussed collaboration with institutional investors and asset managers to generate investment and plug an infrastructure financing gap which had grown wider in the wake of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
The G20-OECD task force aims to advance the work of the G20鈥檚 Infrastructure Working Group and other related G20 bodies addressing infrastructure funding and long-term financing issues.
The Saudi G20 Presidency, along with the OECD, are actively engaging with investors to discuss the perspectives of asset owners and managers, identify key issues and challenges, and provide a set of recommendations for improving the environment for private investment in infrastructure.
The lead of the Saudi G20 Infrastructure Working Group, Rakan bin Dohaish, said: 鈥淚t is more important now, than ever before, to explore all methods to mobilize private investment in infrastructure to bridge the financing gap.
鈥淕iven the impacts of COVID-19 and its economic devastation, this gap is likely to magnify as investment continues to dwindle, unless both public and private sectors collaborate and step forward.鈥
鈥淭he extraordinary G20 leaders鈥 meeting and the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors鈥 meetings have been successful in bringing nations together at a time of great uncertainty. The significant announcement of the debt relief agreement for developing nations is a witness of the commitment that the Saudi G20 Presidency has toward combating the COVID-19 pandemic.鈥
Dohaish added: 鈥淭he Saudi G20 Presidency genuinely believes that the G20-OECD report on collaboration with institutional investors and asset managers is going to support the future work on mobilizing the private-sector investment in infrastructure that will result in a sustainable, resilient, and productive global economy.鈥
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