Mumbai: The first G20 Infrastructure Working Group meeting under India’s G20 Presidency concluded on Tuesday in Pune. It was attended by 64 delegates from 18 member countries, eight guest countries and eight international organisations.
The two-day meeting discussed the flagship theme of ‘Financing Cities of Tomorrow – Inclusive, Resilient and Sustainable”, amongst other key areas. The representatives deliberated on making cities economic centres of growth and building future-ready urban infrastructure. They also explored ways to collate the data on infrastructure spending and make it useful for the private sector.
The meeting was complemented by a high-level workshop on ‘Financing of Cities of Tomorrow’, wherein over 15 international experts discussed the issues related to financing of the cities.
The workshop discussed how the cities of tomorrow must tie together their key administrative functions –planning, funding, and financing – to increase private sector participation.
Divided into three interrelated sessions, the workshop focused on the infrastructure and related technical and managerial capacity needed to build tomorrow’s cities. It also discussed how cities and governments could prepare themselves to increase private financing for building such infrastructure.
The delegates also had the opportunity to experience the rich cuisine, history and culture of Pune. The second IWG meeting is scheduled to be held in Visakhapatnam on March 28-29.
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