& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Asia mulls investment bank to fill huge infrastructure gap

AFP, Bangkok
Infrastructure in Asia lags behind the growth of the region's economies and needs to be improved, possibly by creating an Asian Investment Bank similar to Europe's, the United Nations said Wednesday.
"Asia is lagging behind not only infrastructure but also financial services," UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific executive secretary Kim Hak-Su told reporters at the conclusion of its 61st annual session.
"This Asian Investment Bank idea of the secretariat will benchmark the European Investment Bank in Brussels," Kim said.
A recent study by the World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Japan Bank for International Cooperation estimated the Asia-Pacific region required an annual 200 billion dollars for infrastructure investment, but that just 50 billion dollars annu-
ally was available, Kim said.
The ADB lends 6.0 billion dollars annually, and while newly released Asian bonds can play a role, experts told the commission it would take 10 years to develop a bond market and reliable credit agencies, Kim said.
Some countries however feared a new bank would duplicate the roles of national investment banks and the ADB.
"It needs study, it is only an idea, so we welcome any financial intermediaries," Kim said, adding the commission would likely perform a feasibility study by late 2006 on creating an investment bank.
Kazakhstan Foreign Minister Kassymzhomart Tokayev, the commission's chairman, said the new initiative was worth supporting.
"Otherwise we'll be lagging behind in terms of creating very attractive infrastructure projects in the Asian and Pacific region," he said.
The United States opposed the plan, saying it did not believe it was
possible to justify a new institution solely on the basis of the UNESCAP's estimated 150 billion dollar financing gap, said Richard Behrend, the State Department's director of economic and development affairs.
The week-long session also addressed the recovery and redevelopment of countries hit by the December tsunami, noting that of the 6.7 billion dollars pledged, just 2.5 billion has been recorded as committed or paid.
The commission heard affected countries realised the importance of good governance to ensure money reached those in need and the effectiveness of relief co-ordination.
Delegates also agreed they valued the role of the private sector in the rehabilitation and reconstruction effort, and asked the UNESCAP secretariat to develop new roles for the sector in future disaster relief and rehabilitation.