Siemens hopes global stimulus spending will boost eco sales

By Daniel Schäfer in Frankfurt| March 24 2009 02:00

Siemens yesterday said it expected a boost to its plans to increase the share of "green product" sales, thanks to worldwide government programmes which are designed to mitigate the global recession.

Peter Löscher, chief executive, told the Financial Times that Europe's largest engineering group expected to get a stimulus for such products from various state-sponsored schemes.

"One thing is crystal clear: even during the crisis we will substantially increase the share of our sales which are attributable to green technologies," Mr Löscher said.

Siemens' "green products" - which have often been criticised by climate experts for not always being environmentally friendly - comprise a slew of diverse goods ranging from energy-efficient lights to trains and gas turbines.

Mr Löscher said Siemens would stick to its target to increase sales in its green product portfolio from €19bn ($23bn) in the past year to €25bn in 2011, even in the light of the drastic worldwide recession that has started to hit the group's order inflow in the last quarter.

"On the one hand, our target is more ambitious in the current economic environment," Mr Löscher said.

"But on the other, Siemens will get a stimulus from the infrastructure programmes being launched."

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Foreign Firms Eye Stimulus Dollars

Some Have Expertise U.S. Companies Lack

By Dan Eggen

Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, March 23, 2009; Page A01

Spain's Prince Felipe and his wife, Princess Letizia, visited New York and Washington last week on an unusual mission for one of Europe's most glamorous celebrity couples: to drum up business for Spanish companies from the U.S. economic stimulus package.

"Only by working together with U.S. businesses and government, as well as coordinating our needs and priorities, can we get our countries, and world, back on track," Felipe said at a Manhattan business luncheon, which also featured former vice president Al Gore.

U.S. firms are not the only ones hoping to cash in on the $787 billion stimulus program. Foreign nations and companies are stepping up their lobbying efforts in Washington and in state capitals, hoping to gain vital business in hard times. Hundreds of foreign-owned companies, many of them with significant operations in the United States, are selling their expertise in clean energy, high-speed transit and other technologies that undergird key aspects of President Obama's stimulus efforts.

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Seis empresas interesadas en tren eléctrico a Heredia

Vanessa Loaiza N. | nacion.com

Seis empresas de América, Europa y Asia están interesadas en construir y operar un tren eléctrico metropolitano, que se estrenaría con una primera fase entre el hospital de Heredia y San José.

El Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transportes (MOPT) expondrá el proyecto este viernes a las firmas europeas Alston (Francia), CAF (España), Inekon Group Corporation (República Checa) y Siemens (Alemania). A ellas se sumarán la compañía Bombardier de Canadá y Golden Source International Economic de China. El proyecto incluye una línea férrea a dos vías (dos pares de rieles), trenes eléctricos para 340 pasajeros y terminales de abordaje que se construirían en medio de los dos juegos de línea.

El Tren Eléctrico Metropolitano (TREM) contempla un primer tramo Heredia - Estación al Atlántico - Estación al Pacífico, y luego dos ramales: Atlántico - San Pedro y Pacífico - Sabana Sur.

El primer trayecto (Heredia - San José) demoraría 22 minutos e incluiría ocho paradas de 30 segundos cada una, dijo la ministra de Transportes, Karla González. El proyecto total tiene un costo de $345 millones, según estimaciones de la firma brasileña Engevix, que se encargó de los estudios de factibilidad. De ese total, $100 millones los aportaría el Estado para mejorar la vieja línea férrea. El resto será responsabilidad de la concesionaria, que recuperará la inversión en un contrato de operación de 35 años.

Revivir el TREM. El tren eléctrico metropolitano es un compromiso de campaña del actual mandatario Óscar Arias, quien pretendía inaugurar la primera etapa antes del 8 de mayo del 2010.

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Project cargo is a bright spot for South America

March 23, 2009 - By Leticia Lozano

The economic recession spreading around the globe is hitting South America, cutting sharply into containerized shipments as well as exports of automobiles and breakbulk commodities such as steel and forest products.

Yet project cargo has emerged as a bright spot in South American shipping, and a major new trade route for the business is emerging.

For many shipping and transportation sectors, Brazil started the year as an oasis in a sea of crisis. In January, the world’s eighth-largest economy was the only major market tagged by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development as resisting the global recession. That assessment changed in February.

“The outlook has continued to deteriorate in major non-OECD member economies, particularly Brazil, which now joins China, India and Russia in the strong slowdown group,” the OECD said in a report issued March 5.

In January, the world’s biggest sugar producer posted its first trade deficit — $500 million — since March 2001, compared to surpluses of $2.3 billion in December and $900 million in January 2008, according to government data.

“We expect the trade balance to remain on a downward trend this year, with lower exports and imports,” Nilson Teixeira, an analyst at Credit Suisse, said in a recent report.

Brazil’s central bank sees the country’s economy increasing just 1.5 percent this year after growing more than 5 percent in 2008. Of course, that could be a relatively robust performance in a grim year around the world.

Chile’s trade surplus fell 71 percent to $667.8 million in January, the central bank said. Even Peru, South America’s fastest-growing economy, expects its GDP growth to fall by half this year from 2008, to about 5 percent.

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Graph of the Day: Job Creation by Infrastructure Category

"Typically a figure of 15,000 direct jobs and 'as many as' twice that number of indirect jobs is quoted for each $1 billion invested in infrastructure. In fact, this figure varies widely across sectors, and should also include 'induced' jobs, those that eventually result from the new infrastructure being in place. That said, only Green Energy (43,900) & High Speed Rail (40,500) approach the 45,000 jobs figure, while hydro energy construction, highways and water/wastewater fell well short." All figures are for developed countries, the multiplier effect in emerging markets will be significantly greater."- Norman F. Anderson, CG/LA Infrastructure.

The interests of all participants must be aligned

March 25, 2009
From Ms. Lynn Tilton
Patriach Partners LLC

Sir, The new Treasury programme, the Private Public Investment Programme (PPIP), is marred by a fatal flaw. All financial structures must have, at their core, the mutually aligned interests of all the participants in the transaction. The crucial feature must be the balance of risk and reward among parties and the inducement to participate. And although the interests of the private sector and taxpayer may be aligned, they lie at odds with the selling financial institution.

As the holder of a US patent used to create two bad banks, US6,654,727 B2, I am well versed in the requirements for a successful transaction. First, asset prices must be significantly below the ultimate recovery values. Banks will not be induced to sell at prices that allow for programme success in the absence of a share of equity appreciation. Neither the Treasury equity contribution nor the leverage provided by the Federal Reserve should permit overpayment on toxic assets.

The assumption that the government offering fosters higher prices is erroneous, as excessive pricing with leverage only serves to increase losses to the American taxpayer. In the absence of buyer overpayment, banks have little need to engage in fire sales when access to the government well is evergreen for those deemed "too big to fail".

In lieu of PPIP, the structure and programme must encourage prices that reflect illiquid markets and time until asset recovery. The clearing price must find equilibrium within the alignment of benefits.

With parallel interests, selling banks will embrace immediate liquidity, without the fear for appearance of foolishness, loss of value to constituents or profit of others at their expense. Financial transactions, like life, need not be a zero sum game.

CG/LA Infrastructure's Graph of the Day - March 24, 2009

CG/LA provides a Graph of the Day to help our clients and partners better understand the rapid pace of change in the global infrastructure marketplace. Today’s graph is titled: An Explosion of Money/ Reserves at the Federal Reserve.
"The Fed's monetary expansion, according to John Taylor, has been extraordinary over the last 6 months, increasing by 100 times. And the rate of increase is set to increase, rising from $8 billion, through the current $778 billion, to nearly $3.5 trillion by the end of 2009. What does this mean? for the losses to the financial system? for future inflation? for the credit markets? and for, Taylor's preoccupation, the future of the Federal Reserve system?"- Norman F. Anderson, CG/LA Infrastructure.

Graph of the Day Homepage

The Mexican Evolution

March 24, 2009
Op-Ed Contributor
By ENRIQUE KRAUZE

AMERICA’S distorted views can have costly consequences, especially for us in Latin America. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s trip to Mexico this week is a good time to examine the misconception that Mexico is, or is on the point of becoming, a “failed state.”

This notion appears to be increasingly widespread. The Joint Forces Command recently issued a study saying that Mexico — along with Pakistan — could be in danger of a rapid and sudden collapse. President Obama is considering sending National Guard troops to the Mexican border to stop the flow of drugs and violence into the United States. The opinion that Mexico is breaking down seems to be shared by much of the American news media, not to mention the Americans I meet by chance and who, at the first opportunity, ask me whether Mexico will “fall apart.”

It most assuredly will not. First, let’s take a quick inventory of the problems that we don’t have. Mexico is a tolerant and secular state, without the religious tensions of Pakistan or Iraq. It is an inclusive society, without the racial hatreds of the Balkans. It has no serious prospects of regional secession or disputed territories, unlike the Middle East. Guerrilla movements have never been a real threat to the state, in stark contrast to Colombia.

Most important, Mexico is a young democracy that eliminated an essentially one-party political system, controlled by the Institutional Revolutionary Party, that lasted more than 70 years. And with all its defects, the domination of the party, known as the P.R.I., never even approached the same level of virtually absolute dictatorship as that of Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe, or even of Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez.

Mexico has demonstrated an institutional continuity unique in Latin America. To be sure, it can be argued that the P.R.I. created a collective monarchy with the electoral forms of a republic. But since 2000, when the opposition National Action Party won the presidency, power has been decentralized. There is much greater independence in the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government. An autonomous Federal Electoral Institute oversees elections and a transparency law has been passed to combat corruption. We have freedom of expression, and electoral struggles between parties of the right, center and left.

Our national institutions function. The army is (and long has been) subject to the civilian control of the president; the church continues to be a cohesive force; a powerful business class shows no desire to move to Miami. We have strong labor unions, good universities, important public enterprises and social programs that provide reasonable results.

Thanks to all this, Mexico has demonstrated an impressive capacity to overcome crises, of which we’ve had our fair share. They include the government’s repression of the student movement of 1968; a currency devaluation in 1976; an economic crisis in 1982; the threefold disaster of 1994 with the Zapatista rebel uprising, the murder of the P.R.I. candidate for president and a devastating collapse of the peso; and the serious post-election conflicts of 2006.

We have overcome these challenges and drawn meaningful lessons from them. We learned to diversify the economy and reduce the state’s financial monopolies, paving the way for the eventual Nafta agreements. Election controversies and the threat of political violence have led to a national acceptance of a peaceful and orderly transition to democracy.

Now once again, we face enormous problems. The worldwide financial crisis is intensifying our ancient dramas of poverty and inequality. But the most acute problems are the increased power and viciousness of organized crime — drug trafficking, kidnappings and extortion — and an upsurge in ordinary street crime.

This may be the most serious crisis we have faced since the 1910 Mexican Revolution and its immediate aftermath. More than 7,000 people, most of them connected to the drug trade or law enforcement, have died since January 2008. The war against criminality (and especially the drug cartels) is no conventional war. It weighs upon the whole country. It is a war without ideology, rules or a shred of nobility.

Is it a war that Mexico can win? Not through the tactics of any conventional war. But there can be progress by restricting the range of the enemy. Since taking power in 2006, President Felipe Calderón has sent more than 40,000 army troops to various Mexican states to combat drug gangs, and has had some victories in drug-related seizures and arrests. Even though Mr. Calderón enjoys a relatively high approval rating, the government has not managed to reassure the general population. Large sectors of Mexican society seem to endure these events as if they were part of a nightmare from which some morning we will awake. But it will not just disappear, and Mexicans must help fight the war by mobilizing public opinion, supplying information to the authorities and vigilantly supervising both elected and appointed officials. This kind of civic participation has already begun to yield some successes in Mexico City.

THE government, for its part, must continue the huge task of cleaning up the dark corners of its police forces, establishing an efficient intelligence network in order to keep ahead of the cartels. Mexico also needs a secure prison system that will not serve as a sanctuary where sentenced drug bosses can continue conducting their business and recruiting new criminals. It is also vital to speed up the purification of a judicial system that is slow and inefficient in its handling of serious crimes. We could use more political cooperation as well: Mr. Calderón (and his National Action Party) are now fighting this battle without significant support from the opposition parties, the P.R.I. and the Party of the Democratic Revolution.

The Mexican print media has not been entirely helpful either. Of course, freedom of press is essential for democracy. But our print media has gone beyond the necessary and legitimate communication of information by continually publishing photographs of the most atrocious aspects of the drug war, a practice that some feel verges on a pornography of violence. Press photos of horrors like decapitated heads provide free publicity for the drug cartels. This also helps advance their cause by making ordinary Mexicans feel that they are indeed part of a “failed state.”

While we bear responsibility for our problems, the caricature of Mexico being propagated in the United States only increases the despair on both sides of the Rio Grande. It is also profoundly hypocritical. America is the world’s largest market for illegal narcotics. The United States is the source for the majority of the guns used in Mexico’s drug cartel war, according to law enforcement officials on both sides of the border.

Washington should support Mexico’s war against the drug lords — first and foremost by recognizing its complexity. The Obama administration should recognize the considerable American responsibility for Mexico’s problems. Then, in keeping with equality and symmetry, the United States must reduce its drug consumption and its weapons trade to Mexico. It will be no easy task, but the United States has at least one advantage: No one thinks of it as a failed state.

Nor, for that matter, did anyone ever see Al Capone and the criminal gangs of Chicago as representative of the entire country. For Mexico as well, let’s leave caricatures where they belong, in the hands of cartoonists.

Brazil, Key Actor in Global Climate Change Solutions

March 17, 2009

SÃO PAULO- Brazil plays a strategic role in the global fight against climate change and can contribute with some successful environmental management experiences to help other emerging and developing nations, especially on sugar cane-based ethanol production, direct sowing in agriculture, sustainable management of tropical rainforests and solid waste management, says a World Bank report.

According to the report, Brazil has one of the cleanest energy matrices in the world (more than 80 percent of its own energy production is based on renewable sources, such as hydroelectricity and liquid biofuels). Although Brazil is not responsible for global warming and recognizing that rich countries have to take the lead, the report underscores that the country can positively contribute with mitigation policies regarding avoidable deforestation.

The report, titled Low Carbon, High Growth: Latin-American Responses to Climate Change, was launched today in São Paulo after the World Bank approved –on March 5– a credit line for the Brazilian Government amounting to US$1.3 billion to support the country’s environmental and climate change agenda.

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Panama to consolidate energy sector reforms with support from the IDB

Mar 19, 2009

US$100 million loan will underpin the country's growth and help reduce poverty

Panama will consolidate reforms needed to ensure the sustainability of its energy supplies, underpin economic growth and reduce poverty with financial and technical support from the Inter-American Development Bank. The reforms are the centerpiece of a package of energy-related measures Panama has agreed to carry out under a US$100 million programmatic policy-based loan (PBL) approved by the IDB Board of Executive Directors on March 18.

The PBL is a fast-disbursing instrument that will give the Panamanian Treasury resources to finance its priority programs. Under the loan, Panama has committed to consolidate institutional capacity in the energy sector, including staff training to set and implement coherent energy policies. The government will also undertake programs to improve the effectiveness of state-owned energy companies by adopting good corporate governance practices.

Panama’s energy reform program will formulate and implement policies and regulations that promote energy efficiency, the development of renewable energies, and bioenergy, and to improving environmental and social management for energy projects. It will also promote private participation in the electricity sector by supporting efforts to improve regulatory management, enhancing the regulatory body's credibility and accountability, and increasing the availability of information for investors and the general public.

The IDB loan—the first in a series of three loans planned for Panama’s energy sector—is from the Bank's ordinary capital and is part of the IDB's Sustainable Energy and Climate Change Initiative (SECCI). As such, it will help Panama to diversify its energy matrix, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change.

The loan is for a 20-year term with a five-year grace period, and carries a LIBOR-based interest rate.

Related article: Panama Canal Confirmed for CG/LA's 7th Latin American Leadership Forum

Former DOE Official Joins Firm's Clean Technology & Renewable Energy Practice

February 17, 2009

We are pleased to let you know of an important development in Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati’s clean technology and renewable energy practice. Former Department of Energy official John Mizroch has joined the firm’s Washington, D.C., office as Of Counsel, bringing substantial regulatory and legislative experience in the areas of energy and environmental technology.

As part of the firm’s clean tech practice, John will help lead the government initiatives team, focusing on providing clients with critical information regarding legislative and regulatory developments, as well as an understanding of the processes that companies must follow to obtain government funding for their clean technology ventures and renewable energy projects. They will work closely with clients on submissions for loan guarantees, grants, and other federal funding programs and give strategic advice on best practices in managing these complex processes.At the DOE, John most recently served as Acting Assistant Secretary for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, which manages the federal government’s principal investments in clean technology and energy transformation.

John’s additional government experience includes serving as a senior advisor to the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Trade Development at the International Trade Administration, and a foreign service officer with the State Department. In addition, he was president and CEO of the World Environment Center, an international not-for-profit organization promoting corporate responsibility, sustainable development, and the responsible use of natural resources.With his extensive experience and wide network of national and international contacts, John will be an invaluable asset to technology clients and venture capital investors seeking regulatory counsel and legislative insight in the areas of energy and environmental technology.

Fiebre mundial de la infraestructura

Por: Marisol Rueda (cnnexpansion.com)

Varios gobiernos del mundo le apuestan a la infraestructura para salir de la crisis económica; Estados Unidos, China y Latinoamérica ya anunciaron sus próximas inversiones.

"En total, esperamos que América Latina invierta unos 50,000 mdd en infraestructura", dice Norman Anderson, gerente general de CG/LA Infrastructure.

Las ideas del economista inglés John Maynard Keynes volvieron a los escritorios de los ministros de Finanzas. Varios gobiernos del mundo han anunciado para 2009 un agresivo gasto en el sector de infraestructura. "Una de las formas en la que los gobiernos salen de una crisis es justamente a través de la inversión en infraestructura", afirma Carlos González, subdirector de Análisis y Estrategia Bursátil de Ixe Grupo Financiero. Además de las bondades que provoca en la economía, la infraestructura posibilita que las empresas hagan más eficientes sus procesos y reduzcan costos. "Esto ayuda a un país a ser mucho más competitivo", explica González.

Para este año, se estima que las inversiones como porcentaje del Producto Interno Bruto (PIB) mundial suban de 2.2%, en 2008, a 2.9% en 2009, según datos de la firma estadounidense de estrategia en infraestructura CG/LA Infraestructure.

Históricamente, muchos países han salido de profundas recesiones a través de su gasto en infraestructura. Fue el caso de Estados Unidos en la crisis de 1929, y 2009 no será la excepción. El presidente Barack Obama llegó a la Casa Blanca con un ambicioso paquete de recuperación económica de 825,000 millones de dólares (mdd) que prevé un fuerte gasto en infraestructura. Se trata del mayor programa emprendido en Estados Unidos en los últimos 60 años para reactivar la economía. El paquete a dos años contempla inversiones de 550,000 mdd en infraestructura para estimular el mercado interno. Este monto es adicional al gasto gubernamental en el sector, que este año será de 300,000 mdd. En total, el plan económico del presidente Obama proyecta la creación de hasta tres millones de empleos, gran parte de los cuales provendrá del sector de infraestructura. China no se ha quedado atrás, también ha entrado a la ola global de la infraestructura. "No quieren desacelerarse, así que van a buscar mantener el ritmo del crecimiento y una de las formas será a través de infraestructura", señala González.

El gobierno chino anunció nuevos planes de gasto público por 586,000 mdd. "Aunque no está claro cuál es el plazo de aplicación, los recursos serán destinados a la construcción de líneas de ferrocarril, autopistas y aeropuertos", dice Ricardo Sánchez, especialista en infraestructura de la Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe. El paquete chino también contempla reforzar la agricultura y el sector, modernizar las redes de suministro eléctrico e incrementar la inversión en educación y en salud.

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Thinking about the Future of American Capitalism

by Francis Fukuyama

There is a pervasive sense of unreality in Washington about the nature and scale of the economic crisis facing the United States and the world. The Obama Administration seems to be proceeding on the assumption that the problem in the US financial sector is still one of illiquidity rather than insolvency, and that the task is to prop up US banks for the next few months until markets value their toxic assets more fairly. The growing consensus of many economists, on the other hand, is that they are insolvent. The rapid downturn in the real economy, accelerated by the financial meltdown last fall, is feeding back into the banking sector as higher quality home mortgages (like Alt-As), commercial real estate loans, and credit card debt start to go bad. It is easy to see why the administration doesn’t want to admit to itself that the banks are insolvent, because this would mean going back to Congress for another trillion or so dollars for further bailouts. It is this political logic that kept Japan from dealing with its non-performing loan problem in the 1990s, and means we may be headed down the same road.

The Republicans, for their part, are in total denial of what befell the country under their watch. Having presided over the growth of a half-trillion dollar deficit during the boom years of the 2000s, they have suddenly re-discovered the virtues of fiscal austerity at the one moment in the business cycle when deficit spending is desperately needed. In their efforts to think through what went wrong in their electoral defeat last year, many are saying that the problem was that they strayed from Reaganism. Very few Republicans have come to terms with the fact that it was some of the key tenets of Reaganism—in particular, its hostility to regulation and belief that tax cuts would be self-financing—that lie at the root of the country’s current problems. It is true that the Democrats were complicit in much of this—Bob Rubin and Larry Summers were as much believers in financial sector de-regulation as any Republican, while Congressional Democrats did a lot to protect the train wreck that was Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

But the fundamental ideas regarding the self-regulating capacity of the market and the deadening hand of government are Republican ones. Former Senator Phil Gramm, author of the 1999 Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act that repealed the Depression-era Glass-Steagal Act and weakened the ability of the US to regulate derivatives, is, along with Alan Greenspan, one of the individuals most responsible for laying the intellectual groundwork of the crisis. This didn’t prevent him from writing an astonishing op-ed in the Wall Street Journal laying major blame for the meltdown on the Democrats and their support for Fannie and Freddie. Fannie and Freddie without question contributed to the crisis. But these institutions didn’t induce AIG to recklessly issue credit default swaps, or Washington Mutual to sign up borrowers with no due diligence, or Merrill Lynch to create securitized mortgages that are impossible to value, or Moody’s to give these securities Triple-A ratings. As long as Republicans don’t admit to themselves that this enormous crisis emerged as a result of factors intrinsic to Reaganism, they will never find their way out of the desert.

We need to look at the crisis in a longer term perspective. The baby boom generation—of which I am a member—went through its life over-consuming and under-saving, all the while exempting themselves from taxation (except for a brief period in the Clinton years, when we succeeded in running a budget surplus). Getting out of the crisis they created will require significantly increasing the already high levels of public debt they incurred; not only will they will then pass these liabilities down to their children, but they will start incurring health care costs that will eat up a significant chunk of future GDP if not constrained.

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Stimulus Money Puts Clean Coal Projects on a Faster Track

Near the middle of a dusty construction site here stands a patch of land, about the size of two football fields, notable because it is empty.

Duke Energy has high hopes for this two-acre plot: If all goes right, and there is a happy convergence of technology, money and federal energy policy, the construction project could become the first environment-friendly coal-fired power plant in the nation, The New York Times’s Matthew L. Wald reported.

The company is studying a method for capturing the carbon dioxide produced by using coal and storing the gas underground, preventing it from entering the atmosphere. Machines to separate carbon dioxide from other elements in the coal may someday stand on the empty land.

For years, scientists have been experimenting with ways to “clean” coal, a carbon-heavy fuel that countries around the world increasingly rely on. But the technology for carbon capture and storage has been tried only on a small scale. Governments have not required companies to do what Duke is proposing here, in part because costs were so uncertain.

The allocation of $3.4 billion in the federal stimulus bill for carbon capture and sequestration, as carbon storage is often called, however, has allowed Duke Energy and other companies to consider mounting full-scale projects.

The federal money is the latest sign of a growing interest worldwide in clean coal technologies, which backers believe could prove one of the most significant ways to tackle global warming. The projects are being watched closely by environmentalists, engineers and energy officials.

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Anti Clean Coal TV Campaign

UN Warns of Rising Demand for Clean Water

March 16, 2009

By Christopher Torchia/ Associated Press

ISTANBUL - Worldwide demand for water is rising just as access to safe drinking water and sanitation remains inadequate in much of the developing world, the United Nations has said, calling for better management to alleviate water shortages.

Population growth and mobility, as well as increased energy production, especially of biofuels such as ethanol, are contributing to the high demand for water, UNESCO said Monday, the first day of a global water forum in Istanbul, Turkey's largest city.

"With increasing shortages, good governance is more than ever essential for water management. Combating poverty also depends on our ability to invest in this resource," said Koichiro Matsuura, director-general of the U.N. agency. He urged leaders who will gather for the G-8 summit in Italy in July to pledge investment in water resources to help prevent a "major water crisis."

Thousands of activists, entrepreneurs, mayors, parliamentarians and business executives have gathered for the weeklong World Water Forum, which is held every three years to promote ideas about conserving, managing and supplying water. Climate change and the impact of the global economic meltdown are key issues on the agenda this year.

Earlier Monday, police used truncheons and tear gas to disperse a small group of Turkish demonstrators who rallied outside the conference center to protest what they said was the forum's promotion of water as a commodity. The protesters said big water companies benefit from privatization, and that the poor are entitled to clean water as a "human right."

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Water Executive Forum Examines Stimulus Act's Impact on Water Business

The stimulus act and its impact on the water business will be addressed in presentations at the 2009 WATER EXECUTIVE Forum, which will be March 30-31 in Philadelphia. Speakers, who are top executives from the water industry and investment community, will also examine these topic areas: equity investing in the water business, the size of the water market, infrastructure, and industry trends. Emerging Technology presentations at the Forum will discuss nanotechnology in water treatment by leaders in the research and development of this technology.

Philadelphia, PA (PRWEB) March 9, 2009 -- The new American Economic Recovery Reinvestment Act and its impact on water and wastewater infrastructure will be highlighted at the annual WATER EXECUTIVE Forum, which will be March 30-31 at the Marriott Courtyard Hotel in Center City Philadelphia. Current projections are for $6 billion to go toward municipal drinking water and wastewater infrastructure projects, and $1.4 billion to be spent in rural areas. Three speakers -- Tommy Holmes of the American Water Works Association; Mike Shapiro, Acting Administrative Administrator with the EPA's Office of Water; and Eric Meliton of Frost & Sullivan -- will address the stimulus impact.

Speakers will also address the impact of the economic downturn on equity investing in the water business. Ryan Connors of Boenning & Scattergood, David Gray of Credit Suisse, and William Malarkey of Boenning & Scattergood will discuss important finance issues now facing water companies. A panel discussion, moderated by Christoph Lueneburger of Egon Zehnder International, will also review the future of the water business. Michael LoCascio of Lux Research, as well as Mr. Meliton will look at future water business growth, which has estimated global sales of more than $300 billion annually.

The WATER EXECUTIVE Forum also features several top water business executives from leading firms who will present their view of market trends and the state of the water industry. Executives addressing the meeting will include Paul Raymond of Ashland Hercules Water Technologies, Jeff Fulgham of GE Water, Matthew Knight of Siemens Water, Paul Turgeon of BWA Water Additives, Hu Flemming of Hatch Water, David Flitman of Nalco, and Omar Del Valle Colosio of CG/LA Infrastructure.

This year's WATER EXECUTIVE Forum will feature Emerging Technology presentations on the coming use of nanotechnology in water treatment, which many experts see as the technology that will impact for future water treatment methods. Speakers will include Lisa Farmen of Crystal Clear Technologies, Fred Tepper of Argonide, Jeff Green of NanoH2O, Dr. Ernest Matthew Hotze of CNRS in France, Roger Miller of Seldon Technologies, and Richard Sustich of The Water CAMPWS at the University of Illinois.

The conference is sponsored by ULTRAPURE WATER journal. A complete program, conference brochure, and registration information is available at http://www.waterexec.com/Expo/WEForum.htm, or by calling 303/973-6700.

For further information, contact:
Frank Slejko at 303-973-6700,
or, Mike Henley at 303-745-3890

Canadian Firms Get a Piece of Panama’s $5-billion Project

March 13, 2009
provided by ReNew Canada

Export Development Canada (EDC) is loaning USD 35 million to Petroterminales de Panama to buy marine services from Svitzer Canada Ltd. for work on an oil storage facility and cross-Panama oil pipeline.

“This transaction represents one of the largest Canadian trade deals in one of the fastest growing markets in Latin America,” says Eric Siegel, president and CEO of EDC. “Given Panama’s five-year, five-billion dollar expansion of the Panama Canal and spin-off infrastructure projects, EDC has taken the initiative to introduce some 150 Canadian firms to key business contacts in Panama to help them access those massive opportunities.”

In 2008, total Canadian domestic exports to Panama were valued at CAD 109.8 million. Panama’s economy grew an estimated 9.2 per cent in 2008, the second largest GDP increase in Latin America.

All the Eggs in 1 Basket?

Latin America Pinning Recovery On Infrastructure Spending Plans

March 12, 2009
By C.J. Schexnayder/ ENR

When the financial crisis originally struck in the United States in 2007, the initial effect in Latin America was muted. That changed last year as the dramatic drop in purchases pounded commodity prices — the backbone of most Latin economies. Moreover, as investors began seeking safe havens the availability of funding shrank as well.

As a result, since late last year, countries across South America have launched a variety of stimulus measures. Most are multi-billion-dollar initiatives that include a public-works program to increase employment and subsidized loans for consumers to increase spending.

Brazil’s economy is indicative of the situation. Although the U.S. mortgage crisis had little effect, the country’s stock market, the Bovespa, fell a record 41% last year due to the dramatic slump in commodity prices hammered the country’s economy. Credit losses and write downs in the South American nation topped $1 trillion.

Brazil’s monetary authority is now expecting the country’s economy will contract for the first time in 17 years.

Efforts to avert the crisis began in late 2007 when Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva launched a $210-billion investment plan aimed at spurring the economy that has been increased by $59.5 billion. The government also slashed taxes by $3.5-billion hoping to bolster the financial system.

The scramble to back infrastructure development in hopes of cutting the rate of unemployment and stimulating investment has been repeated across Latin America.

In December Peru’s President Alan Garcia announced valued at $3.3 billion in a move to keep the country’s growth rate at a relatively robust 6.5%. Argentina unveiled a similar $3.8-billion stimulus package that same month but in an effort to bolster financial confidence in the face of $22 billion in debt payments due this year.

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Stimulus Dollars Energize Efforts To Smarten Up the Electric Power Grid

By Peter Slevin and Steven Mufson - Washington Post Staff Writers

ERLANGER, Ky. -- One gizmo allows you to run the dishwasher when electricity is cheapest. Another decides when to fire up the water heater if you plan on a 6 a.m. shower. Another routes solar energy from a rooftop panel to a battery in your garage and the wiring in your house.

Outside, towers equipped with sensors tell the electric company exactly where a storm has knocked out power. The power grid itself can react to trouble, rerouting juice from a healthy part of the system or isolating itself to prevent a larger meltdown.

So far, this dramatization of "smart grid" technology is confined to an office park in northern Kentucky, but sponsor Duke Energy is one of many large utilities confident they can turn theater into reality for millions of customers, aided by billions of dollars in the federal stimulus package.

Smart grid is an essential component of President Obama's plan to change the nation's energy habits and reduce U.S. dependence on fossil fuels, especially foreign oil. It would energize his hopes for more jobs and fewer pollutants while remaking a network still moored to the 1950s.

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New Metrorail Line Really Coming

This time, it's for real. The Washington region can now plan on construction of a new Metrorail line through Tysons Corner and out to Reston. U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood signed an agreement this morning that means all hurdles have been cleared for the crucial $900 million federal portion of the financing.

A quote that I could attribute to any number of Northern Virginia leaders who are at the U.S. Department of Transportation today: "This is a great day." The grand signing ceremony in the DOT atrium is more than just a crowded photo op for state and federal officials. It's a breakthrough for travelers in the Washington region. This will help organize Tysons Corner for the 21st Century. Four stations will be built there. And it will provide a transit line for at least a few more generations of Washington area commuters.

Virginia Gov. Timothy M Kaine said he had never worked on anything so complicated. In his remarks this morning, he noted that the project spanned federal administrations, and praised the work of former transportation secretary Mary Peters during the past year.

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Global Economy to Shrink First Time Since WWII, World Bank Says

March 9 (Bloomberg) -- The global economy is likely to shrink for the first time since World War II, and trade will decline by the most in 80 years, the World Bank said.

The World Bank’s assessment is more pessimistic than an International Monetary Fund report in January predicting 0.5 percent global growth this year. The Washington-based World Bank didn’t provide a specific estimate in its report yesterday.

World growth will be 5 percent below its potential, the bank said. Developing nations will bear the brunt of the contraction. They will face a shortfall of between $270 billion and $700 billion to pay for imports and service debts, the bank said.

“We need to react in real time to a growing crisis that is hurting people in developing countries,” said World Bank President Robert Zoellick in a statement. Action is needed by governments and multilateral lenders “to avoid social and political unrest.”

East Asia will be hit the hardest by the decline in global commerce, the bank said. Global industrial production is expected to be as much as 15 percent lower than in 2008.

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High-Speed Rail Drives Obama's Transportation Agenda

by Dan Eggen/ Washington Post
March 8, 2009

The Northern Lights Express is little more than an idea -- a proposal for a 110-mph passenger train between Minneapolis and Duluth, Minn., that has crept along in fits and starts for years.

But the slow ride may soon be over. The project is one of dozens nationwide that are likely to benefit from President Obama's initiative to fund high-speed and intercity passenger rail programs, including $8 billion in stimulus money and $5 billion more over the next five years in the administration's proposed transportation budget.

The money represents the first major step toward establishing a genuine high-speed train network in the United States and has sparked a stampede among states, advocacy groups and lobbyists who are not accustomed to this level of funding.

"We're going to turn over every stone we can," said Steve Raukar, a commissioner in St. Louis County, Minn., who chairs the Northern Lights Passenger Rail Alliance, which is spearheading the drive for the $500 million project. "We're trying to get everything moving as fast as possible with the understanding that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for funding."

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Three Teams Vie for Panama Canal Pact To Design and Build New Locks

03/05/2009
By C.J. Schexnayder/ ENR

Three international consortiums submitted bids on Tuesday to design and build the new sets of locks for the ongoing $5.2-billion expansion of the Panama Canal.

Officials with the Panama Canal Authority – the quasi-governmental organization that oversees the waterway’s administration often known by its Spanish-language acronym, ACP – accepted bids in a ceremony in Panama.

The canal authority has previously projected the lock component of the project to cost $3.35 billion but the actual price tag for the effort was unclear due to the scale of the effort and the confidentiality measures put in place for the evaluation of the three proposals.

The three consortia submitting bids included; Consorcio C.A.N.A.L. led by ACS Servicios, Comunicaciones y Energía, S.L. of Spain; Consortium Bechtel, Taisei, Mitsubishi Corp., led by U.S.-based Bechtel Internacional, Inc. and Grupo Unidos por el Canal, led by Spanish company Sacyr Vallehermoso S.A.

A fourth consortium, Consorcio Atlántico-Pacífico de Panamá led by Bouygues Travaux Publics of France, was approved to participate in the lock building process but did not submit a bid, authority officials said.

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Spanish-Led Group Secures $1.8-Bil in P3 Funds For Fla. Express Lanes

03/05/2009 By Deb Wood/ ENR

A banking consortium agreed to provide financing for a nearly $1.8-billion toll lane project in Florida.

The Florida Dept. of Transportation signed off on an agreement for I 595 Express, LLC to finance, build and operate the $1.796-billion Interstate 595 Corridor Improvement Project, after concessionaire ACS Infrastructure Development of Spain secured financing from an international banking consortium.

“For a major infrastructure project to get its financing together in the current climate is a big deal,” says Gerry O’Reilly, director of transportation development for FDOT district 4.

Late last year, FDOT announced its public-private partnership deal to build the $1-billion Port of Miami Tunnel had fallen through when the equity partner could not come up with the funds.

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Metro approves $1.46 billion contract for light rail lines

Price tag for next phase stands at $73 million a mile

By ROSANNA RUIZ
Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle

The Metropolitan Transit Authority board of directors on Wednesday unanimously approved a $1.46 billion contract for four new light rail lines, which would add 20 miles to its lone seven-mile line along Main Street.

Under the contract, which came after almost a year of negotiations, Parsons Transportation Group is responsible for designing, building, operating and maintaining the new East End, Southeast, North and Uptown lines at an average cost of $73 million a mile. Metro has said the lines will be complete by 2012.

A fifth rail line, the University line, and an intermodal terminal near downtown still are planned, but are not included in the contract.

Metro officials said the agency intends to spend $632 million on the initial phase of the project, primarily on the East End line along Harrisburg as it is further along in the planning than the others.

“Today is obviously a very significant milestone in our building of the Metro Solutions program,” board Chairman David Wolff said moments before the vote. “Our objective is to improve transit in Houston.”

The first phase includes $390 million for the East End line and a rail vehicle service and inspection facility in that corridor.

Metro will spend another $93 million on what officials described as utility work in the Southeast, North and Uptown corridors.

The initial outlay also will include $118 million to buy 29 new light rail cars from manufacturer CAF USA Inc. Of those, 19 will be used on the existing Main Street line and 10 will go to the East End line.

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Experts: Spanish-Led Consortium to Build $4-Billion Texas Freeway Project

By Eileen Schwartz/ Texas Construction

The Texas Transportation Commission Thursday conditionally awarded the LBJ Development Partners, a private-public partnership, a contract to finance, design, construct, operate and maintain the $4-billion, 13-mile LBJ-635 corridor in Dallas. The PPP’s main partner is Spanish toll road developer Cintra, which will lead the design and construction team. The 55-year contract is expected to be finalized in two months. The project could begin as early as mid-2010 with completion expected in four to five years. The design will enable the new highway to be constructed while minimizing the need for additional right of way, according to the Texas Dept. of Transportation. Mark Pettit, spokesperson for TxDOT’s Dallas district, says the design places new managed toll lanes—between U.S. 75 and IH-35E—below the existing non-tolled main lanes. This will be accomplished by first digging a 25-ft-deep trench between and partially under the existing freeway. It adds costs to the project, he says, but public approval and local businesses required the design not go higher or wider. “With those restrictions, TxDOT chose to go below-grade,” Pettiit says.

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Abertis Offers to Boost Interest to Extend Financing

March 2 (Bloomberg) -- Abertis Infraestructuras SA, Spain’s biggest highway operator, is offering banks more interest to extend a 1.05 billion-euro ($1.3 billion) credit line, according to two people with knowledge of the deal.

Abertis wants to extend the facility by an extra year to April 2011, said the people, who declined to be identified because negotiations are private. The Barcelona-based company is proposing an interest margin of as much as 150 basis points more than the euro area interbank offered rate, or Euribor, compared with 25 basis points on its current facility, the people said.

Companies across Europe are paying higher borrowing costs to secure access to funds as the worldwide financial crisis curbs the supply of credit. Telefonica SA, Europe’s second- largest telephone company, agreed to pay its lenders a sevenfold increase in interest to extend a 4 billion-euro revolving credit facility to 2013. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point.

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