Quality Infrastructure Investment in Development

Quality infrastructure Investment is a crucial driver in encouraging national economic growth and development. Mentioned explicitly in three of the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals, enhancing Infrastructure investment is a key component of the 2030 Development Agenda as it drives the realization of most of the other goals.

The infrastructure assets required to drive this development need to be of high-quality, and resilient to the damage caused by climate change and natural disasters. According to the World Bank, it needs to be economically efficient and support sustainable development.

Quality Infrastructure Investment improves quality of life, drives competitiveness, enables the effective operation of trades and markets, promotes business productivity, increases opportunities for struggling communities, and enhances foreign direct investment.

This article by Brickstone, reviews the role of quality Infrastructure investment in growth and development.

Quality Infrastructure Investment: Importance and Role in Development

Quality Infrastructure Investment, a concept that evolved in Japan, soug quality aspects of infrastructure, rather than the bare provisions of infrastructural assets. According to the World Bank, it looks beyond “grey” infrastructure to include other dimensions of quality, such as economic growth, efficiency, climate, resilience, inclusivity, and governance.

Although non-binding, this concept is what transformed into what is now known as the six QII principles, set forth by the G-20 in 2019, to provide strategic direction for infrastructure investment. These principles are built on the consensus that well-built and resilient infrastructure is a significant driver of economic prosperity.

When countries apply these principles, they do not only pursue quality infrastructure investments that maximize the economic, social, environmental and development impact of infrastructure, but also contribute to sustainable, resilient, and inclusive growth.

The QII Principles are uniquely relevant in a world that has been hammered by climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic, and have much to offer for developing countries.

The QII principles include:

• Maximizing the positive impact of infrastructure to achieve sustainable growth and development.
• Raising economic efficiency in view of life-cycle cost.
• Integrating environmental considerations in infrastructure.
• Building resilience against natural disasters.
• Integrating social considerations in infrastructure investment.
• Strengthening infrastructure governance.

The World Bank stated that the Quality Infrastructure Investment (QII) Partnership and the Tokyo Development Learning Center developed case studies demonstrating how the QII Principles were applied in two Japanese cities, Toyoma and Fukuoka in 2021.Futhermore, the Quality Infrastructure Investment (QII) Partnership subsequently  published case studies drawn from the World Bank projects to illustrate how these principles work in developing countries.

This includes to illustrate:

1. Takes into action relevant environmental considerations and resilient measures against both natural disasters and human-made risks.
2. Encourages inclusivity in the access to infrastructure services for all groups, regardless of gender difference, sexuality, ethnicity, and race; allowing everyone to participate economically and socially in a respectful, safe, and healthy environment.
3. Harmonizes good infrastructure governance to ensure appropriate and transparent decision making and efficient oversight of outcomes of infrastructure projects.
4. Improves economic efficiency of infrastructure assets, considering the total costs and benefits of the investment, and associated risks, over the lifetime of infrastructure assets.
5. Promotes the maximization of the positive impacts of infrastructure, emphasizing its role in achieving sustainable growth and development.

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