Christopher Heathcote, previously of Macquarie Funds Group has been appointed as the inaugural chief executive of the G20-backed Global Infrastructure Hub. The Hub is set to become a key participant and facilitator in the global infrastructure market. Please click on the following links to read our previous updates in this series.
G20 announces the Global Infrastructure Hub – will it make a difference?
The G20 Global Infrastructure Hub – First steps
With the appointment of Christopher Heathcote, we should now see the Hub beginning to take shape as it moves into an operational phase and starts to engage with governments and the global infrastructure market. To date, Australia, the United Kingdom, China, Saudi Arabia, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Mexico and Singapore have pledged financial contributions to the Hub.
The Hub is registered as a not-for-profit company under Australian law and will be governed by an international Board of seven directors, comprising a Chair appointed by the Australian Government, two independent directors and four directors representing advanced and emerging G20 economies (currently, the United Kingdom, Korea, China and Turkey).
Business group, the B20, which operated alongside the G20 in connection with the conception of the Global Infrastructure Hub, estimates that improving project penetration, structuring and delivery could increase infrastructure capacity by $US20 trillion by 2030. Infrastructure development, particularly in emerging markets, is vital for economic growth.
Globalisation is a reality and provides the means by which industry can expand into new markets. The challenge is to encourage regulatory stability in international markets and to provide ethical and transparent frameworks within which business can operate. Globalisation provides a platform for knowledge-sharing, standardisation of processes, managing risk and ultimately growth for those players willing to embrace it.
The new CEO, together with the Chief Operating Officer, Mr Bill Brummitt, will work to get the Hub to a fully operational level in its new premises in Sydney as soon as possible.
The key next step is for the Hub's business plan to be prepared in consultation with stakeholders, with the aim that it be endorsed at the September meeting of G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in Ankara.
We will keep you informed of further developments.
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