Outlook for Infrastructure Finance in South Korea

South Korea offers a maturing and interesting Asian-grown model for infrastructure finance. The country has developed a protective legal environment for private sector participation in infrastructure projects that has demonstrated both enforceability and sustainability. Project selection follows a statutorily determined process that is outlined in an annual plan issued by the Ministry of Planning and Budget or MoPB (“the annual plan”). This incorporates the government’s evolving views on the ambitiousness of its infrastructure development program and the direction of regulations for garnering concession and financing agreements. Although, as in other countries, this process has bumps along the way, the overall direction of South Korea’s expectations and regulation is reasonable and progressive.