Infrastructure for regional integration

This document is the second in a series prepared by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the General Secretariat of UNASUR in the framework of intensive collaboration between the two bodies. Its main purpose is to provide national and subnational government authorities, the academic and business sectors, and the public in general, with an analytical perspective on infrastructure and related services, which are central to the integration agenda and development of South American nations.

The document is divided into four chapters that examine different aspects of infrastructure in South America. Chapter I analyses the connection between the provision of infrastructure services, economic development and equity and reflects on the impact of infrastructure investment, as well as the role of the State, public policy and the new State-market-society equation.

Chapter II offers an overview of infrastructure in the region, referring to both investment issues and economic infrastructure (energy, telecommunications, transport and sanitation); it also addresses the organization of infrastructure markets, institutions and policies on transport infrastructure and services, putting forward the need for a paradigm shift. A number of basic indicators on transport infrastructure and logistics are presented to complement the assessment of the sector in South America.

Chapter III examines the regional integration of infrastructure and its importance, looking in particular at the progress made towards regional physical integration in South America since the start-up of the Initiative for the Integration of Regional Infrastructure in South America (IIRSA) and, more recently, the emergence of the new regional infrastructure agenda of UNASUR.

Lastly, chapter IV contains some final reflections in relation to the main infrastructure-related challenges in UNASUR countries, with a particular emphasis on transport and logistics.

One of the main challenges the document identifies for infrastructure in South America is to design new ways of approaching public policy to ensure development with equity. To that end, the conception, design, execution, follow-up, oversight, assessment and monitoring of policies on infrastructure services must be aligned in order to maximize their impact on development. What is needed is a paradigm shift in the development and oversight of public policies: instead of treating modes of transport individually and separate from each other, integrated and sustainable policies should be forged by adopting a co-modal approach to transport. By making optimal use of each mode of transport or combining different modes, efficiencies can be achieved in the distribution of transport and related services for every trip. As part of this paradigm, market regulation and technical aspects of transport should be optimized to drive the modal shift towards sustainability.

A paradigm shift is indispensable for progressing towards a strategy of integrated and sustainable policies on infrastructure, logistics and mobility in South America. This would not only help to tackle development issues, but would also favour greater economic efficiency in transport services and reduce negative externalities affecting the population, such as congestion and pollution. The integration of infrastructure and related policies within UNASUR presents great opportunities for boosting growth and economic and social development in accordance with the aims of the Union’s Constitutive Treaty.