#Sustainableinfrastructuredevelopment

[thxnews]

PH Infra Spending Hits P1T in 2023 Surge

In a landmark move for national development, the Philippines has earmarked an unprecedented P1.02 trillion for infrastructure and capital outlays from January to November 2023. This remarkable 18.5% increase from the previous year underscores the government's commitment to bolstering economic growth and enhancing the nation's infrastructure backbone.  

A Boost for National Growth

Unprecedented Funding Increase Under the stewardship of Budget and Management Secretary Mina Pangandaman, the significant uptick in infrastructure spending is a testament to the government's dedication to executing its annual budget efficiently. The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Department of Transportation (DOTr) spearheaded this increase through the implementation of various priority projects, including road, bridge, and rail transport enhancements.   Building a Better Future The Build, Better, More program, a cornerstone of President Bongbong Marcos's administration, is set to receive a robust P1.510 trillion in the 2024 national budget. This initiative aims to further the development of crucial infrastructure projects, such as roads, rail, mass transport, and flood control systems, facilitating growth in remote municipalities and embodying the vision of a renewed Philippines.  

The Path to Sustainable Development

Prioritizing Efficient Budget Utilization The DPWH and DOTr are at the forefront of this developmental leap, with allocations amounting to P981.999 billion and P26.580 billion, respectively. This strategic distribution of funds is designed to maximize economic benefits and ensure that every peso spent contributes to the welfare of the Filipino people.   Expanding the Infrastructure Horizon The Build, Better, More program represents a pivotal shift towards more sustainable and inclusive infrastructure development. With an investment equivalent to 5.5 percent of the country's projected GDP, the program not only aims to enhance the physical landscape but also to foster economic resilience and inclusivity.  

A Legacy of Development

From Build! Build! Build! to Build, Better, More Transitioning from the Duterte administration's Build! Build! Build! initiative, the BBM program amplifies the focus on infrastructure with a keen eye on sustainability and broader societal impact. This evolution reflects the administration's vision for a future where development projects pave the way for a stronger, more connected Philippines.   Looking Ahead As the Philippines strides into 2024 with a substantial infrastructure budget, the momentum for national development is stronger than ever. The government's unwavering support for the Build, Better, More program signifies a promising horizon for the Filipino people, promising not just infrastructure growth but a holistic upliftment of the nation's quality of life.   Sources: THX News & Philippine News Agency. Read the full article

[the-blockchain-news]

Blockchain-Backed Investment Startup Fasset Launches — Plans To Accelerate Investments and Growth in Sustainable Infrastructure Development

UK blockchain startup Fasset wants to bridge the US$15 trillion gap in sustainable infrastructure development by launching the world’s first comprehensive operating system dedicated to the ethical financing of sustainable infrastructure on the Ethereum blockchain. Mohammad Raafi Hossain, Fasset Chief Executive Officer and former Technology Advisor to the UAE Prime Minister’s Office stated: “With climate change expected to cost the world economy US$7.9 trillion by 2050, impacting lives and communities, the need for sustainable infrastructure has never been more urgent. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has placed the global economy at a standstill with massive job losses and markets tumbling around the world." "The most direct and effective way to accelerate the production of large-scale sustainable infrastructure projects — and in turn, create sustainable jobs for the global economy — is through hard asset tokenisation and the democratising access to these investments." "We believe that there is, today, an unprecedented opportunity to equalise the global economy while creating sustainable jobs and fighting climate change—and the time to seize it is now." Inspired by the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Fasset hopes to expedite the construction of sustainable infrastructure while providing safe, secure, and yielding investments to a broader investor base. This by Richard Kastelein #Development #Fasset #infrastructure #sustainable #sustainableinfrastructuredevelopment Read the full article

[thxnews]

AfDB Unveils Growth Strategy for DRC 2023-2028

AfDB Launches 2023-2028 Strategy for DRC's Transformation

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has unveiled its ambitious 2023-2028 Country Strategy Paper (CSP) for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), focusing on industrialization and employment to drive inclusive growth and reduce fragility.   Strategic Priorities: Infrastructure and Human Capital The new CSP sets two primary objectives. Firstly, it aims to develop sustainable infrastructure supporting agricultural and industrial value chains. Secondly, the strategy focuses on improving human capital quality and the business climate, fostering social inclusion and private sector growth. Serge N'Guessan, AfDB Director General for Central Africa, highlighted the CSP's intensive consultation process, emphasizing its commitment to structural transformation and fragility reduction in the DRC.   Boosting Agricultural and Industrial Value Chains Under its first priority, the AfDB will champion the development of vital agricultural sectors, including cassava, maize, soya, and rice. The strategy encompasses transport projects to connect production regions with markets and initiatives in the energy sector, encouraging public-private partnerships for essential infrastructure. These efforts aim to address food insecurity and reduce food imports by enhancing the DRC's agricultural efficiency and output.   Enhancing Governance and Youth Employability To realize its second priority, the Bank will focus on governance reforms and skill development for youth employability and entrepreneurship. This includes facilitating young people's qualifications and employability, improving access to financing, and enhancing the business climate. The governance aspect will concentrate on capacity building for value chain integration and local governance.  

AfDB’s Ongoing Commitment to the DRC

As of September 2023, the AfDB's active portfolio in the DRC includes 27 operations (21 national and 6 regional), with a total commitment of USD 1.45 billion. This substantial investment underscores the Bank's ongoing commitment to the country's development and stability.   Sources: THX News & African Development Bank Group. Read the full article

[thxnews]

Leaders Declare Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity

  Official Declaration From the White House

Word-for-word transcription. We, the leaders of Barbados, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Peru, the United States, and Uruguay hold a common vision for a more open, fair, inclusive, sustainable, and prosperous hemisphere. We envision a brighter future for all the people of the Americas in which vibrant economies build more equitable societies and democratic governments, through effective institutions, deliver for all. To this end, we recognize the need to accelerate inclusive and sustainable trade and investment in the region, address the climate crisis, and expand social and economic opportunities that leave no one behind. We reaffirm our collective commitment to shared values, including democracy, rule of law, diversity and inclusion, decent work and well-paying jobs, environmental and social protection, labor rights, universal human rights, and fundamental freedoms in the Americas. Having launched the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity (“Americas Partnership”) with the intention to significantly strengthen our economic partnership, we have come together to establish the Americas Partnership as a leader-led forum for deepening economic collaboration and integration in our hemisphere. We intend for the Americas Partnership to serve as a lasting regional platform to pursue an ambitious, flexible, and goal-oriented economic and development agenda. At this inaugural Leaders’ Summit of the Americas Partnership, we have identified the following five initial cross-cutting priorities that will focus and drive our collective work: - Strengthening regional competitiveness and integration - Fostering shared prosperity and good governance - Building sustainable infrastructure - Protecting the climate and environment - Promoting healthy communities To advance these priorities, we will identify a set of specific actions that we intend to collectively implement to achieve concrete results through a newly created and enduring structure for the Americas Partnership. To that end, we resolve to establish three tracks and ask Ministers to meet annually to carry out these efforts. The Foreign Affairs Track will advance activities and initiatives that will help to deliver inclusive and sustainable growth and unleash the full potential of our peoples. We acknowledge the intricate links in each of our countries between good governance and increased growth as well as the importance of ensuring that the gains are broadly shared. To launch this first phase of work, we ask our Foreign and other relevant Ministers to prioritize collaborative initiatives aimed at fostering inclusive growth, such as through the establishment of a regional accelerator for entrepreneurs and programs to foster workforce development, particularly in the digital economy. We further call on Ministers to identify specific tools and initiatives to address barriers that prevent women and other historically underrepresented groups from participating fully in the workforce. Additionally, we ask Ministers to advance projects and initiatives that will help to tangibly improve access to healthcare, potable water, clean energy, food, and nutritional security, and support smart agriculture and protect against climate change through sound adaptation and mitigation practices, which are essential for prosperous societies and economies and the future of humankind. To ensure gains are broadly shared, we also call on Ministers to explore efforts to deepen existing commitments to anti-corruption and transparency efforts. The Trade Track will bolster the foundations of our regional competitiveness by building upon our existing trade links and economic cooperation. We call on the Ministers responsible for trade to develop inclusive and sustainable approaches to trade and investment that will support regional sustainable development and resilient supply chains for goods and services, enhance a predictable and transparent regulatory environment that can boost trade flows, and remove barriers to greater economic integration among our countries. We expect these efforts to reflect our values and create formal jobs that lead to decent work and promote internationally recognized labor rights, environmental sustainability, and economic inclusion. We ask Ministers to immediately focus on enhancing regional integration by advancing implementation of the WTO Agreement on Trade Facilitation and digitization of customs mechanisms throughout the region. We further ask Ministers to conduct a gap analysis to identify regulatory actions needed to enhance regional integration and develop mechanisms, actions, and information-sharing tools to ensure that the benefits of trade are more widely shared with micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises and historically underrepresented communities. The Finance Track will pursue high-standard finance and investment initiatives that will be central to the success of the Americas Partnership. We ask our Finance and other relevant Ministers to aim to accelerate efforts to increase the quality and quantity of financing for the Americas, including through innovative and concessional financial instruments. Ministers should work to maintain momentum on the ongoing evolution of multilateral development banks to better address national and cross-border development challenges, especially at the World Bank Group and the Inter-American Development Bank Group. We commend the consensus reached by the Governors for the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Inter-American Investment Corporation (IDB Invest) to make swift progress towards reform of the IDB Group and towards assessing the potential recapitalization of IDB Invest. We look forward to the IDB Group playing a renewed role in hemispheric engagement that promotes high-standard, responsible, and sustainable investment that safeguards workers, communities, and the environment, expands access to decent jobs, and catalyzes regional growth. Further, we ask our Ministers to prioritize efforts to leverage new and existing development finance tools, such as the investment platform established by the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation and IDB Invest, to support sustainable digital and physical infrastructure and innovative nature-based solutions that provide positive financial incentives to promote environmental conservation and address climate challenges. Taken together, the work we carry out in these three tracks will build on our foundation of economic ties and strengthen our hemispheric resilience. Recognizing the lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic, the risks and adverse impacts of climate change, and other potential sources of disruption to global supply chains, we intend to establish the Americas as the home of the world’s most competitive, inclusive, sustainable, and resilient regional value and supply chains. Our efforts will focus on three initial priority sectors: clean energy, medical supplies, and semiconductors. This will require coordination and cooperation among governments, and with public and private stakeholders, to invest in the health and security of our peoples now and for the future. The Americas Partnership, through regular and formal engagements, will seek the input and expertise of a variety of stakeholders and partners, particularly underrepresented groups, to inform the development of new cooperative initiatives. To initiate this work, we call on Ministers to develop regional competitiveness plans to build resilient supply chains in the Americas, taking advantage of our complementarities. In these sector-specific workstreams, we will pay particular attention to the formalization, financing, and incentives for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises. Across all lines of effort in the Americas Partnership, we will promote the social, cultural, economic, and political inclusion of all. We will endeavor to facilitate greater well-being and foster consultation with and participation of underrepresented communities, such as Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendants, women, youth, LGBTQI+ individuals, older persons, persons with disabilities, and members of rural populations, and ensure micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises have greater opportunities to access markets. Similarly, across all of our work, we intend to promote shared values of transparency, fairness, inclusivity, accountability, and environmental sustainability, while also upholding high standards for labor and promoting innovations in responsible business conduct, throughout our economies, in accordance with our multilateral commitments. To accomplish these goals, we call on Ministers to regularly engage in multistakeholder dialogues with these communities to ensure the work and outcomes of the Americas Partnership reflect a broad and diverse set of voices. In the spirit of openness and inclusivity, we ask Ministers to establish a process for welcoming additional Western Hemisphere countries to join the Americas Partnership. We believe that, together, we have the capacity to transform our shared hemisphere, building on the diversity, talent, and dynamism of our peoples. We intend to meet every two years to assess our progress and identify additional opportunities to galvanize action toward our vision for a closer, safer, more prosperous Americas.   Sources: THX News & The White House. Read the full article