The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has launched a €40 million (US$50.1 million) Infrastructure Project Preparation Facility (IPPF).

This plans are the EBRD's response to the global infrastructure investment needs to 2030, which are estimated to be over US$50 trillion. The EBRD reported in a statement:

The EBRD, like an increasing number of organisations such as the G20/B20, the OECD, the IMF and other International Financial Institutions (IFIs), realises that the lack of well-prepared projects to cover these needs through bankable projects is the main reason behind the oft-discussed "global infrastructure gap" being experienced currently in many countries.

Thomas Maier, EBRD Managing Director for Infrastructure, stated:

"Simply put, the dearth of investment-ready projects has led to a widening gulf between what is required and what is delivered. While infrastructure problems are global, solutions are local."

The IPPF will feature two windows:

• a PPP Window where private finance will be featured and
• a Sustainable Infrastructure Window for commercialised public sector investment projects.

The IPPF's objective is to improve the efficiency and replicability of infrastructure projects for the benefit of its clients. It will do this by greatly reducing time to mobilisation of consultants through use of "call-off' framework consultants to deliver project preparation, over an initial three year period from 2015-2017. This approach will also improve the quality of preparation through consistent, market-proven structures that both the public and private sectors will support.

The IPPF's dedicated unit will carry out the integration of project preparation services with systematic higher level policy dialogue, providing expertise on PPPs and commercialised projects for the Bank's clients. The IPPF's linkage of policy advice with project preparation will enable true peer-to-peer knowledge sharing between the public and private sectors, thus enriching local capacity strengthening.

Matthew Jordan-Tank, EBRD Head of Infrastructure Policy, stated:

"We're listening to clients: they want real-world infrastructure solutions based on what has worked elsewhere in similar contexts - IPPF aims to provide these kinds of direct linkages."

Finally, the creation of the IPPF, alongside other PPFs being created by fellow IFIs, has been created and enriched by inputs from the G20, the World Economic Forum' Global Advisory Council on Infrastructure, as well as through close collaboration with fellow International Financial Institutions such as the World Bank, ADB, IADB, AfDB, and IsDB.