The World Bank Group Singapore Hub, expanded from the initial set up in 2010, draws together the different infrastructure expertise along the transaction chain – firstly, project management of the World Bank; secondly, structuring expertise of the International Financial Corporation (IFC); and thirdly, credit enhancement of the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) – to deliver practical project advisory and financing solutions to governments globally. This includes its ongoing efforts to develop a bankable Public-PrivatePartnership (PPP) project pipeline for ASEAN. The Asian Infrastructure Centre of Excellence (AICOE), set up in April this year, would also work with governments to catalyse infrastructure development in Asia, starting with Southeast Asia. Similar to the Singapore Hub, the AICOE will select infrastructure projects based on needs in the region, grow them to a bankable stage, and match these projects with private investors. 17. These efforts will help make infrastructure financing more accessible to a broader group of investors, and help banks to recycle their capital more quickly to other greenfield projects. Transactions can be structured such that institutional investors can, through capital market instruments such as infrastructure projects bonds or securitisation, take over the financing of projects from banks after the construction phase is completed. By facilitating financing to what industry estimates to be USD 300 billion of marginal bankable projects in Asia, these integration efforts will enhance long term growth prospects of Asian economies. 18. One less-talked about area where market integration holds great promise is in insurance.
Although natural catastrophes – and damage caused by them – have risen in Asia in the last ten years, we remain significantly underinsured against perils like flooding. As disaster risk exposures grow in scale, size and complexity, it would exceed the individual capacity of local insurance markets, and governments, to insure the risks of its populations and communities. PPPs between public and private sectors, and across national borders, can be effective in maximising the benefits of insurance. Such examples of horizontal integration between markets are key in managing the region’s rising exposures to natural catastrophe risks. 19. Collation of natural catastrophe risk data and analytics across ASEAN countries is a necessary first step toward more comprehensive catastrophe protection, paving the way for insurance integration in this region. Currently, the fragmented market structure in ASEAN constrains data sharing and the capacity of domestic insurers to pool and underwrite risks. In Singapore, key partners from academia and industry, alongside the MAS, have come together to form a work group to explore the establishment of a Natural Catastrophe Data Analytics Exchange. This Exchange serves as a regional platform to collect data and model  4  BIS central bankers’ speeches  less understood regions at risk in Asia-Pacific, facilitate better pricing of such risks, and eventually pave the way for more comprehensive insurance against these risks. 20. In combination, these comprehensive efforts among jurisdictions and participants are very encouraging.