Global Energy Basel (GEB) is the leading policy dialogue and investment platform for the promotion of sustainable infrastructure in cities. This year’s summit will be held on 21-22 February 2012 in Basel, Switzerland.

The summit offers solutions for confronting the challenges of resource scarcity and energy security, as well as addressing global warming targets.

The conference will consist of plenary sessions, roundtables, workshops and investment forums featuring senior decision makers including mayors, national and international policymakers, heads of commercial banks, pension funds, private industry, NGOs and others.

The variety of session formats allows participants to develop a deeper understanding of the topics through engagement on strategic and tactical levels.

For more information click on the following link: www.globalenergybasel.com

The CDIA supported High-Level Urban Policy Roundtable held at the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Manila, Philippines on 14 November 2011, saw an eminent group of twenty political leaders, leading urban specialists and concerned civic leaders, deliberating on the role of Asian cities in the world economy and what Asian cities should do in order to maintain and enhance their competitive edge, while ensuring that their development is inclusive and sustainable.

The group called upon Asian countries to make urbanization (and urban infrastructure development in particular) a key instrument for enhancing growth, combating poverty, addressing climate change, and serving as a stabilizing factor in the regional and global economic system. The focus of the Roundtable was on the need to develop institutional mechanisms providing adequate incentives to make this happen.

The Roundtable discussions led into the formulation of a Manila declaration on incentivizing Asia’s urban future. A Background Paper had been prepared and circulated as the basis to facilitate discussion among participants to the High-level Roundtable.

Copies of the Summary Report and supporting documents may be downloaded here:

• Summary Report
• Annex 1: List of Participants
• Annex 2: Background Paper
• Annex 3: Manila Declaration

The Stakeholder’s Forum represents the ‘demand-side’ of the CDIA programme and provides an opportunity for members to provide feedback on selected issues so as to help guide the Initiative to make it more responsive to the local and regional needs.

A copy of the Draft Agenda can be downloaded here. For those that wish to attend, but have not yet sent in their registration form, we urge you to complete it and send it in by November 9th, a copy of the Registration Form can be downloaded here, or you may visit this link for an online version of the form. CDIA is able to provide the SHF with a limited number of sponsorships to attend, and these are primarily to support members from city organizations in attending the event. Others will be considered if funds are still remaining.

Concurrently, as for previous meetings, we would ask you to take a few minutes to also complete the SHF Survey by November 15th. It can be accessed by clicking the following link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TWHNHZY

The training programme to be held in January 11 – 20, 2012 in Singapore is jointly sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Singapore and Cities Development Initiative for Asia (CDIA) under the Singapore-CDIA Third Country Training Programme (TCTP) and will be conducted by the Singapore Civil Service College and CDIA.

This is the third staging of such a programme and the course will include the following subjects:

• Urban Infrastructure Project Prioritization and Programming
• Urban Infrastructure Finance
• Urban Infrastructure Services contributing to urban sustainability (environment, social development, economic development)
• Marketing of infrastructure investment projects to potential financiers
• Using public private partnership (PPP) arrangements for infrastructure investments.
• Using pre-feasibility studies to help bridge the gap between development plans and project implementation.

The purpose of the Course is to enable participants to learn about effective urban infrastructure planning, programming and implementation of infrastructure investment projects, which contribute to sustainable urban development.

The following cities have recently received approval in principle for CDIA support on September 9, 2011:

• Guiyang, China (phase II);
• Xinyu, China;
• Pokhara, Nepal;
• Puerto Princesa, Philippines;

These cities have applied to receive technical assistance in Infrastructure Investment Programming, Project Assessment and the preparation of Pre-Feasibility studies (PFS), which will address various issues in key sectors such as transport, slum upgrading and wastewater management.

You can find information on all of the cities which CDIA supports at the following link: Where CDIA is active

The Master’s Programme in Financial Management (MFM) with a specialization in Urban Infrastructure Finance for January 2012-December 2012 is a joint programme of the Rotterdam School of Management (RSM) and the Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS) of Erasmus University Rotterdam.

The combined approach of RSM and IHS prepares ambitious young professionals for a successful career in urban infrastructure finance. The programme focuses on preparing participants for financial decision making from a managerial perspective. This is achieved by providing training in the effective identification, analysis and resolution of a wide range of finance-related issues faced by corporate firms, banks and other financial institutions, but even (semi) government bodies and big utility companies. Knowledge is provided through highly interactive courses, workshops and guest lectures by top financial specialists.

Applications for the programme will be accepted until October 4, 2011.

For more information about the programme, please contact Mr. Yicheng Guo, Senior Marketing Officer at: guo@ihs.nl

To download a copy of the brochure please click here:
Master’s Programme in Financial Management (MFM) with a specialization in Urban Infrastructure Finance