When world leaders adopt new international principles for ¡°quality infrastructure¡± during the upcoming Group of 20 summit in Osaka, it will be the moment when Japan¡¯s flagship initiative will finally bear fruit after years in the making.
In recent years, Japan has promoted what it calls high-quality infrastructure as the antithesis of a more quantity-driven strategy spearheaded by China, which has wooed developing economies by rolling out cheaper, if inferior, infrastructure programs under the multibillion-dollar ¡°Belt and Road¡± initiative (BRI).
A tone of pride in scoring a preliminary endorsement of the principles was palpable when Finance Minister Taro Aso reflected on the outcome of a meeting with his fellow G20 finance leaders held in the city of Fukuoka earlier this month.
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