Finance & Funding

In Colombia, the Council of Ministers has given official approval to a fourth public-private partnership (PPP), this time for a motorway between Cesar and La Guajira. The 350km road, costing an estimated US$151 million, will connect San Roque with Cuestecita, take four years to build and employ around 1,400 workers. The announcement comes Columbia’s National Infrastructure Agency said it will help finance construction of the Toyo tunnel in Antioquia. The tunnel, nearly 10km-long and costing almost $765, wil

Panama looks set for a major development programme for its road network. The country’s Ministry of Public Works (MOP) has plan for some US$2.95 billion of road development projects over the next five years. One of the key projects will be to upgrade the Howard-Puente Centenario road. Other important projects being prioritised include the construction of new access roads to the Tocumen international airport's cargo terminal as well as new road links that will help boost logistics.

North Dakota in the US is to benefit from major investment in infrastructure following political progress at state level. In all around US$1.1 billion of fast-track funding will be available for infrastructure investment in the state. Of this around $450 million will be targeted towards state highway projects, so as to boost transportation and connectivity.

The East West Connect consortium is set to abandon Melbourne’s East West Link contract in return for a payment of between US$400 million and $535 million, according to media reports. But the Victoria state government is challenging the claim by East West Connect whose partners include Lend Lease, Acciona, Capella Capital and Bouygues. Instead, the government wants East West to payback around $153 million which the consortium allegedly received when the toll road contract was signed, reported the Herald Sun

The Indonesian government is getting ready to tender for major infrastructure projects including roads to be developed under public-private partnership (PPP) contracts, the Jakarta Post reported. Public Works and Public Housing minister Basuki Hadimuljono said in Jakarta that the first priorities would be on the 94km Balikpapan-Samarinda toll road, the 7km Manado-Bitung toll road in North Sulawesi and a drinking water treatment system project in western Semarang, central Java. The projects will prove that P

Istanbul is often said to be where Europe meets Asia, geographically and culturally. This September the great city will also be the focus of the International Road Federation’s 1st Europe & Central Asia Regional Congress. The congress will be an exceptional opportunity for anyone, especially from Europe and Asia, involved in major road projects to connect and network with ministers, road agency heads and local government leaders. But time is running out to be among the prestigious speakers and presenters at

Costs have climbed for construction work on a highway connection in Ecuador. The highway project is now expected to cost in excess of US$100 million to build. The widening work for the 42km stretch connecting Cuenca and Biblian being carried out by contractor Hidalgo & Hidalgo has climbed to over $100 million, compared with the $72 million planned originally. The climbing construction cost can be connected to the need for unplanned additional activities on the project. This additional work has also meant th

Major plans for infrastructure investment have been set out by the authorities in China’s Gansu Province. In all some US$79.9 billion is planned to be spent over the next six years. One of the key aims of this infrastructure programme is to improve China’s transport links with Central Asia. In all the programme of works calls for the construction of 60,000km of roads, including 4,070km of expressways. There are also plans to improve 12 commercial airports in Gansu Province. The sources of funding required f