World Bank Group, in association with Government of Singapore, has launched a new global urban strategy. The new urban and local government strategy aims to work with developing countries as they take advantage of the economic opportunities associated with rapid urbanization.
The strategy offers a number of tools to help cities better manage urban growth, including planning and preparation, putting the poor on the map, building sustainable cities and expanding reach and coverage.
Robert Zoellick, president of World Bank, said: “Urbanization is a vital phase of development, and if managed well, it can be a key driver of long-term economic growth in a country. That’s why it is so important for the global community to help developing countries address the urbanization challenge. It is fitting to launch our Urban Strategy in Singapore, a world-recognized leader in urban planning.”
Tharman Shanmugaratnam, minister for finance of Singapore, said: “As a city-state, Singapore has learnt many lessons in urban management, often after years of experimentation. This is an exciting partnership with the World Bank, which will allow us to share what we have learnt with others at a time of massive urbanization in Asia.”
The Singapore Cooperation Enterprise (SCE) and the World Bank will be signing memoranda of understanding with the respective governments of Mongolia, Vietnam and the Municipal Government of Chongqing, China.
Under the arrangement SCE will provide Singapore expertise to assist these governments in developing a regulatory and financing framework to prepare public-private partnership projects for private sector investment. The cooperation will focus on development of commercially viable infrastructure projects in water and environmental management, power, expressways and roads.
It is anticipated that these projects will lead to more collaboration on downstream projects with the respective countries that will in turn open up more opportunities for Singapore’s private sector players to assist the countries as investors and advisors.
