This from the Expert Witness Institute.

What can governments in Asia learn from the UK’s various attempts to share with the private sector the costs and risks of running a national rail network? The UK invented railways in 1825; nationalised them in 1948; denationalized them in 1994 -7; and last week published the Williams – Shapps Plan for Rail under which […]

This in the FT with commentary from Andrew on LinkedIn: This is eminently sensible. Money is, after all, fungible. Where ESG finance gets more nuanced is when it funds polluters looking to clean up their act; if they rate poorly and are unable to raise funds elsewhere, lending to them could have more of an […]

Last month it was Suez, this month it’s Istanbul. Suddenly, canals are all the rage. This week, Reuters reported how six Turkish banks, having signed up to the UN – backed Principles for Responsible Banking framework, expressed a distinct lack of enthusiasm for backing the 75 billion Lira ($13 billion) Kanal Istanbul which President Erdogan […]

The enormous increase in lending by China to lower and upper middle – income countries, principally under the banner of its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), has been met by the West with varying degrees of concern not least because so little was known about the terms of that lending. Now the How China Lends […]

Unless you have spent this week quarantining or staycating with no wi-fi, you will have seen that the Suez Canal became blocked when the 20,000 TEU “Ever Given” container ship, leased by Taiwan’s Evergreen from Japan’s Shoei Kisen, turned broadside in a sandstorm, ran aground and blocked the canal. The ship is 400 m long […]

Local businessman Steven Cheung plans to reintroduce seaplanes to Hong Kong. This from TransitJam. It has been tried before; plenty of red tape looms; and eight passengers paying only HK$250 (US$32) sounds almost too good to be true. But apparently he has already raised HK$100 million (US$13 million) and the seaplanes would add a whole new […]

Perhaps the single biggest obstacle to developing infrastructure on a timely basis is acquiring the necessary land, particularly when this needs to be done on a compulsory basis. At the same time, there is a distressing tendency for governments to pass legislation without first adequately consulting the numerous parties likely to be impacted by it […]

Leaving aside the minor matter of Covid’s current impact on the industry, Hong Kong’s Kai Tak Cruise Terminal has long been a white elephant – a white whale if you like – beached on the old runway anxiously waiting for some sort of Greenpeace rescue mission in the form of a connection to the rest […]

Sir / Madam, As the HK government requests funding for a feasibility study into the Lantau Tomorrow Vision, you only touch on why it is so unpopular with many residents of Hong Kong (“Phew, no democrats” 5 December 2020). As an expert in infrastructure finance and a long – term resident, let me add some […]

Writing in the South China Morning Post, Andrew is encouraged that the Convenor of Hong Kong’s Executive Council is supporting the greater coordination of airports and ports across the Greater Bay Area, as Logie Group has been advocating these past three years. (Sadly, the newspaper headline rather missed the point.)

HK’s Trade Development Council ran its fifth Belt & Road Initiative summit on a hybrid basis this week. As usual, the government’s intention was to catalyse new business for Hong Kong; less mentioned, but just as promising, are the prospects for dispute resolution. Belt & Road never appealed much to HK investors and lenders but […]

In annus Covidus, Infrastructure Investor Asia’s annual summit went virtual. But during and beyond the lockdowns, what are the prospects for sectors and geographies across emerging markets? Andrew moderated this panel yesterday to find out. He was joined by two heavyweight investors – Neil Brown of Actis looking for control of projects and Mujeeb Qazi […]

On Wednesday, Andrew moderated the panel for the final of seven webinars in Enlit’s series on Indonesia’s New Energy Paradigm, i.e. the power sector and PLN. Fittingly, the series concluded with how to finance upcoming investment and how to turn potential opportunities into actual ones. He was joined by Pak Hot Bakara, EVP Corporate Planning […]

Andrew joined James Cameron of StanChart, Mike Collins of the UK High Commission in Singapore and Mark Rathbone of PWC in a timely discussion today hosted by Rod Morrison of Project Finance International magazine around Refinitiv’s latest data for infrastructure finance raised. To listen to the recording, go here. Of the many points arising: Post […]