The Second G20 Infrastructure Working Group (IWG) meeting under the Indian G20 Presidency was held in Visakhapatnam on the 28th and 29th of March 2023. The agenda for the meeting involved discussions on the ways to augment financing in cities of tomorrow, along with other priorities outlined in the 2023 Infrastructure Agenda.

On the sidelines of the 2nd IWG meeting, the Indian G20 Presidency and Asian Development Bank jointly organized a Capacity Building Workshop for the G20 delegates on 30th March 2023. The workshop aimed to discuss the international best practices of urban infrastructure development and financing. The workshop highlighted the capacity prerequisites for local governments to finance urban infrastructure for inclusive, resilient, and sustainable cities. This workshop comprised classroom sessions and field visits to enable effective cross-learning. The field visit endeavoured to strengthen the understanding of innovative features of urban infrastructure projects and various financing schemes.

In the first half of the workshop, experts from Singapore, South Korea, Russia, China, European Commission, and India presented the best practices being adopted in their countries for enhancing infrastructure financing for the cities.

Mr Ah Tuan Loh, Former Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Director-General of the National Environmental Agency, Singapore, presented Singapore’s principles and strategies for building inclusive, resilient and sustainable cities, including dynamic urban governance systems to achieve liveability, integrated master planning and development, waste and water management, and environmental monitoring and education.

The session was followed by sharing South Korea’s experience and challenges of urban development and financing and its initiative to disseminate knowledge globally. Mr Inhee Kim, Director Seoul Institute, and Ms. Ga Hui Shin, Seoul Institute, presented and discussed specific challenges the city of Seoul faced and the various redevelopment and restoration measures adopted to mitigate these challenges.

In the last session, delegates from China, Russia, European Commission and India presented specific case studies to highlight various measures adopted to increase the financing of urban infrastructure.

The classroom sessions were complemented by field visits to showcase three successful projects viz (i) VCICDP, to display sustainable and inclusive water supply improvement with smart water management, (ii) Mudarsalova Lake to showcase lake rejuvenation and 2 MW floating solar for strengthened climate resiliency, and (iii) Jindal Waste to Energy Plant to highlight private sector participation for effective solid waste management.

The workshop provided a unique opportunity for the delegates to learn from experiences and understand key elements of sustainability and resilience implemented across infrastructure projects.

The G20 delegates welcomed and appreciated the Indian Presidency’s endeavour to enable practical learning to complement the discussions being held under the 2023 Infrastructure Agenda.

The Workshop marks the successful closure of the 2- day IWG meetings in Visakhapatnam. The next meeting of the Group is scheduled on 26th – 28th June 2023 in Rishikesh, Uttarakhand.

 

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