South Asia needs to spend as much as $2.5 trillion on infrastructure by 2020 to bring its power grids, roads and water supplies up to the standard needed to serve its growing population in countries including Pakistan, a World Bank report says.
The report “Reducing Poverty by Closing South Asia’s Infrastructure Gap” is the first analysis of the region’s infrastructural needs by the World Bank.
It says the region, which includes Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka, could address its enormous infrastructural needs by tapping private and public sector funds as well as by introducing reforms.
“Many people in South Asia remain unconnected to a reliable electricity grid, a safe water supply, sanitary sewerage disposal, and sound roads and transport networks,” said World Bank South Asia Region Vice President Philippe Le Houérou.
If the region hopes to meet its development goals and not risk slowing down —or even halting— growth, poverty alleviation, and shared prosperity, it is essential to make a priority of closing its huge infrastructure gap, which the report defines as the gap between where South Asia’s infrastructure is today and where it should be. The task would be difficult but not impossible with a concerted effort by governments in the region, where access to infrastructure compares with Sub-Saharan Africa.
“For the past twenty years, the South Asia and East Asia regions have enjoyed similar growth rates. Yet South Asia’s access to infrastructure services lags significantly behind both East Asia and Latin America with some access rates comparable only to Sub-Saharan Africa,” said Dan Biller, report’s co-author and sector manager of the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency Economics & Sustainability Group.