The multi-country Odebrecht bribery scandal has complicated infrastructure projects across Latin America. With that comes questions like, “What needs to be done to make financial service companies and lenders more comfortable in taking on new projects following the corruption accusations?” and “What mechanisms can be put into place so that allegations do not have such a crippling economic impact?”
In a recent issue of Latin America Advisor, the featured Q&A was, “Why Aren’t Lenders Financing Projects in Latin America?’
Héctor L. García, region president for Latin America at Bechtel, was a part of the publication’s Q&A panel and expanded on the significant infrastructure gap in Latin America. García notes that many countries in Latin America have implemented successful public-private partnership programs, attracting private investments in infrastructure – which is encouraging. García suggests a whole list of recommendations to make investors more comfortable, including:
- Government support may be necessary for projects to be financially stable
- Project must have robust commercial and financial structures
- Projects’ long-term effects must respect the environment and work together with the host community
- All involved parties must work in a true partnership and in a spirt of collaboration
This article is an excerpt of the original published in the Latin American Advisor, a publication of The Dialogue.
To read the full article, click here.