News release: “The World Economic Forum’s Positive Infrastructure Report finds that world faces a global infrastructure deficit of US$ 2 trillion per year over the next 20 years. The report analyses the four largest infrastructure markets – Brazil, China, India and the USA, and studies how to best deploy public funds made available through global fiscal stimuli packages to advance the issue of infrastructure development. The report identifies the role of the public sector as vital in redressing this deficit. Investments in infrastructure often reap benefits that accrue over a long period of time and in a manner that reap societal benefits in addition to just pure economic and financial benefits. It was apparent from all the regions analysed that infrastructure development was most successful where the public sector had a clear infrastructure development plan on how infrastructure investments would fit into the national economic development plan and where this infrastructure development plan was coordinated at the highest levels. The report highlights the Eleventh Five Year Plan for Energy development by the National Development and Reform Commission of the People’s Republic of China as an example of one such plan which sets specific goals for the development of energy infrastructure in China.”