With the government expected to invest US$87.8 billion from 2018 to 2040, Singapore is set to have one of the world’s smallest infrastructure gap at US$400 million (S$544.3 million) in 2040, according to the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).
“Singapore is a top performer when it comes to good practices and provisions for infrastructure, thanks to continuous efforts from the government to address current and future needs of the country while remaining fiscally sustainable,” said Reuter Chua, country head at ACCA Singapore in an interview with Singapore Business Review.
He cited the setting up of Infrastructure Asia to facilitate infrastructure investment and financing, connect infrastructure stakeholders and enable information exchange amongst other initiatives.
With this, the city-state, along with Canada and Japan, was identified as role-models in bridging the difference between the resources available and the necessary investment infrastructure, with the headline figure at zero percent for Singapore and just two percent for the other two countries.
Meanwhile, Mexico, Brazil and Myanmar were identified as global laggers. The ACCA called on the Mexico government to invest US$699.1 billion to address the country’s 106 percent infrastructure gap. Brazil needs to shell out US$1528.44 billion and Myanmar US$144.35 billion to close their respective infrastructure gaps of 79 percent and 101 percent.
By 2040, the global infrastructure investment gap is forecasted to increase US$149 trillion (S$202.8 trillion), after reaching over US$400 billion (S$544.3 billion) last year.
Regionally, Asian countries funded the biggest financial infrastructure investment at about US$1.3 trillion (S$1.7 trillion) in 2015, which represents 5.1 percent of regional GDP.
It is followed by Africa, with investment as a share of GDP at 4.3 percent. Infrastructure investment as a share of GDP at Europe and America stood lower at two percent and 1.7 percent, respectively.
McKinsey Global Institute estimates that the world must invest US$4.4 trillion (S$5.9 trillion) to bridge the infrastructure gap.
Fiona Ho, Digital Content Manager at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact her about this or other stories, email fiona@propertyguru.com.sg
