How can development institutions ensure knowledge products are scaled and effective in reaching multiple stakeholders? One way is collaboration among all the major MDBs as well as engaging the private sector in development and design and dissemination of products. The MIF as an innovation fund creates products and business models that can be scaled by larger actors if proved successful. MIF supported PPP knowledge products were recently mentioned at the Global Infrastructure Forum that was held April 18. This forum was created to help bridge the infrastructure gap, as key for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Forum looked at opportunities for investment that are environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable, climate-smart and climate-resilient. The stressed the importance of PPP knowledge and improving project preparation of PPPs.
At the Infrastructure Forum the MDBs (AfDB, AIIB, ADB, EBRD, EIB, IADB, IsDB, NDB and the WBG) the MDB Presidents issued a statement that will scale three projects that the MIF has helped to create or that we fund directly – these are the Infrascope , the International Infrastructure Support System (IISS -an online project prep platform), PPP Knowledge Lab and the PPP Certification Program. These were produced collaboratively by the MDBs. In the case of the Certification program and IISS, the private sector played a key role to ensure sustainability. The Chairman’s statement states “We will consolidate and scale up where possible existing multilateral mechanisms to promote greater knowledge transfer, project preparation, and implementation support in the form of global and regional platforms and tools, including de-risking and risk allocation mechanisms, that have already been developed in close cooperation by MDBs, such as the Global Infrastructure Facility, the Global Infrastructure Hub, the International Infrastructure Support System, the PPP Knowledge Lab, Infrascope, the PPP Certification program, and environmental, social and governance standards”. We look forward to working with our sister institutions and the IDB group to scale these products for the international community and to help achieve the sustainable development goals.