05 May 2013 (2:00 pm-3:45 pm, Hall 8, Room 2)

Ensuring financing for long term sustainable development, particularly infrastructure development, is a critical priority for developing Asia. But the region faces a dilemma. On the one hand, it has enormous infrastructure requirements and is home to very significant savings. On the other hand, few of those savings have been mobilized for the region's own infrastructure needs. Asian infrastructure development has largely been dependent on government budgets and private sector banks with little involvement of the capital markets and other sources. With many international banks now less active in Asian infrastructure and government budgets constrained in the face of ever increasing infrastructure needs, can the region find effective solutions to solve its infrastructure paradox? Can regional and international pension and insurance funds be enticed into private infrastructure? Can effective infrastructure bond markets be created in the absence of monoline insurers? Can governments in developing Asia bring well-structured public-private infrastructure projects to market? Can Asian banks increase their activity and become regional as well as domestic infrastructure players? What role should the development banks play? This seminar will aim to address some of these important questions.

Welcome Remarks:

Lakshmi Venkatachalam
Vice President, Private Sector and Cofinancing Operations, ADB

Keynote Speaker:

Montek Singh Ahluwalia
Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, Government of India

Panelists:

Markus Hottenrott
Chief Investment Officer of Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners

Anjan Ghosh
Chief Rating Officer and Group-Head of Corporate Sector Ratings with ICRA Ltd.

Honorable Kittiratt Na-Ranong
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Governor for Thailand in ADB

John Roberts
Executive Chairman, Macquarie Funds Group

Atsi Sheth
Lead Sovereign Analyst for India, Moody's

Takashi Tsukamoto
Chairman, Mizuho Financial Group

Closing Remarks:

Thomas J. Keller (moderator)
Managing Director, Geographic Management and Sovereign Ratings, Moody's Investor Service