Funding ‘High Visibility’ Infrastructure
It is well known that China has brought a lot of high investments in projects initiated in developing countries where they have financed and built roadways, transit lines, airports and any other major form of transport infrastructure you can think of. And it is not only restricted to that; Chinese yuan has also been spent on hospitals, schools and community development centres. As a result, it has helped them to consolidate their Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), while demonstrating themselves as a soft power.
Other Asian economies though aren’t just sitting and watching. In recent developments, India has decided to fund the Greater Male Connectivity Project (GMCP); which is said to be the “’largest civilian infrastructure project in the Maldives’. The financial package will have a grant component of $100 million and a new Line of Credit of $400 million” (The Wire). This project is said to give better connectivity to the four islands, boosting economic activity by generating employment and promoting more tourism in the region.
It would be interesting to see how this race between these countries to fund ‘high visibility’ infrastructure would turn out for the host countries themselves.
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