The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and The Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG) have signed a memorandum of understanding for cooperation on early-stage, private sector infrastructure investments in Asia and the Pacific.

ADB and PIDG will explore possible partnerships in developing and financing sustainable infrastructure projects that address climate change and contribute to sustainable development and poverty reduction in ADB’s developing member countries.

“Accelerating the development and financing of sustainable and climate-resilient infrastructure is essential to meet both the urgent needs of developing and emerging economies and to achieve global climate goals,” said PIDG Chief Executive Officer, Philippe Valahu. “It is exciting for us to build on our existing relationship with ADB to help bridge the gap between public and private support in the development of early-stage infrastructure projects.”

Read more here

InfraCo Asia signed an LOI with Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Economic Zones Development and Management Company (KPEZDMC) to conduct a feasibility study on developing solar energy projects for the economic zones of the country’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Bringing solar into the economic zones’ energy mix will reduce the cost of doing business and serve as an economical and clean source of energy.

The signing ceremony was attended by officials from Khyber Pakhtunkwha 

InfraCo Asia CEO, Claudine Lim, and Javed Khattak, CEO of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Economic Zones Development Company

 and KPEZDMC, SEED, and the British High Commission Pakistan.

PIDG and GWSP, have launched an e-learning self-paced course on Water Utility Creditworthiness.

The e-course is designed for those who are involved in water utility financing, operations and management, particularly national and sub-national government officials, private investors, regulators, and other industry partners. The course is available on the World Bank’s Open Learning Campus.  Sign up here

Across projects, sectors, and countries, women are increasingly playing a lead role in bringing infrastructure projects to life. Sophorn Kith, project lead at Khmer Cold Chain, shares her perspective on being a woman in the field in a new video produced by InfraCo Asia. 

The Khmer Cold Chain facility is part of the Kandal Cold Storage project. The facility will support Cambodia’s growing

import and export industries through international-standard cold-storage facilities located near a port.

InfraZamin Pakistan’s Infrastructure Summit 2023 – Building for Impact conference.

InfraZamin Pakistan held the Infrastructure Summit 2023 – “Building for Impact” in Karachi on 14 March.

The conference, funded by a PIDG Technical Assistance Grant,

featured several industry leaders including Mr. Jameel Ahmad, Governor, State Bank of Pakistan; Mr. Akif Saeed, Chairman, Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan; Ms. Maheen Rahman, CEO, InfraZamin Pakistan; Mr. Layth Al-Falaki, CEO, GuarantCo; and Mr. Farrukh H. Khan, CEO, Pakistan Stock Exchange.

The speakers and panelists highlighted the necessity of local financing to address Pakistan's infrastructure development needs, alongside the development of the capital market for long-term infrastructure projects.

Watch the conference recording here

The Annual Safety Day cake showcasing the 12 HSES Life-Saving Rules

PIDG commemorated its Annual Safety Day in conjunction with World Day for Safety and Health at Work on 28 April.

Companies across the PIDG Group joined online for a session conducted by the Health, Safety, Environment and Social Governance team which familiarised colleagues with the importance of incorporating safety systems in the workplace and constantly seeking out opportunities to improve safety and prevent incidents.

“We are all safety leaders, and it is up to us individually to build that safety culture”, shared Cameron Bain, Director of Health, Safety, Environment and Social Governance at PIDG.

The 12 HSES Life-Saving Rules

InfraCo Asia colleagues shared their perspectives with our government owners, regional government representatives and industry colleagues at events held in early 2023.

Shalabh Singhania spoke about investing in Green Tech Infrastructure at the FT-Nikkei Asia Green Tech Summit on 8 February. Shalabh was joined by Kristina Anguelova, Head of Sustainable Finance Asia, WWF; and Lawrence Wu, Co-Founder and CFO, EDPR Sunseap. 

On 10 February, Le Duc Son took part in a UK Department for International Trade (DIT) panel, Mobilising the Private Sector for Sustainable Infrastructure Development in Cambodia. 

Karen Tsang-Hounsell represented PIDG at a UK Department for Business and Trade (DBT) country leaders’ conference on 21 March. She shared about how PIDG operated in Asia as a part of the UK Toolkit.

On 31 March, Karen Tsang-Hounsell presented on a panel hosted by Infrastructure Asia and Singapore Management University on developing clean energy projects in Asia.  

The panel was part of a course titled ‘Enabling and Structuring for Private Sector Participation in Finance and Innovation’. A group of 40 regional government agency and financial institution representatives was in attendance.

Participants of the “Enabling and Structuring for Private Sector Participation in Finance and Innovation” course by Infrastructure Asia and Singapore Management University

Karen also participated in the Future Energy Asia Summit in Thailand on 17 and 18 May as a speaker at the Pakistan Country Spotlight session and a panellist on the Global Leaders’ Panel.

Shilpa Krishnan joined a panel discussion on the topic of “Securing Development Capital through an ESG Lens” at the Vietnam ESG Investor Conference 2023 on 31 May.