Publication: Infrastructure in Asia and the Pacific: Road Transport, Electricity, and Water and Sanitation Services in East Asia, South Asia, and the Pacific Islands
Abstract
Infrastructure assets and services provide the basic physical and organizational structures that underpin the functioning of economy and society. Access to reliable, quality, efficient, and affordable infrastructure services is critical to reducing poverty, promoting economic growth, supporting social development, and building resilient communities. Much of the global population lacks access to basic physical infrastructure, including roads, piped water supply, improved sanitation, and electricity. Moreover, services may be unreliable, of poor quality, inefficiently supplied, or unaffordable. These conditions impose constraints on human health, quality of life, education, and employment, particularly in rural areas of the global south. This report provides an overview of infrastructure provision in three key economic sectors—road transport, electricity, and water and sanitation—as an initial step towards building a more extensive body of knowledge on the health of infrastructure provision worldwide. Geographically, this report focuses on two of the world’s fastest growing regions, East Asia and Pacific (EAP) and South Asia (SAR), which also account for approximately 35.8 percent of the world’s extreme poor. The report takes stock of available data on service coverage, quality, and tariff and cost levels that can help governments and their development partners establish key needs, target resources for strategic priorities, and benchmark infrastructure performance.
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“World Bank. 2020. Infrastructure in Asia and the Pacific: Road Transport, Electricity, and Water and Sanitation Services in East Asia, South Asia, and the Pacific Islands. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/34228 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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