New Infrastructure Survey Reveals U.S. Weakness And Need For Clear Vision

Released in Advance of the 3rd Annual North American Strategic Infrastructure Leadership Forum

CG/LA Infrastructure LLC, the world leader in infrastructure project identification and development, announced recently the results of its annual survey of public and private sector executives on the U.S. infrastructure market. Results were released ahead of next week's 3rd North America Strategic Infrastructure Leadership Forum, being held Oct. 11 – 13, 2011 in Washington D.C., an event that draws several hundred international infrastructure development companies, banks and policymakers to develop expertise and collaborate on projects.

According to Norman F. Anderson, President & CEO of CG/LA Infrastructure, the survey paints a dark picture for U.S. infrastructure. "We have conducted this survey around the world, and the overall results for the U.S. are some of the lowest scores that we have seen. U.S. scores are on par with Peru, in terms of the country's ability to develop infrastructure projects, and well below those of Brazil, India, China and other countries with which we compete for scarce infrastructure dollars and expertise."

Overall, the scores suggest that the U.S. is falling into second-rate status in the infrastructure arena, becoming a country that does not attract top-flight expertise or resources to its infrastructure business. In particular, responses on questions about leadership and vision yielded lower scores than any previously surveyed country.

Anderson continued: "Particularly in the wake of President Obama's jobs plan and call for an infrastructure bank, the survey reveals the need for urgent action and a clear infrastructure strategy for the U.S."

The full survey results will be released at a press conference at 10 AM this Wednesday, October 5th, 2011, held at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.

About the Country Infrastructure Capacity (CIC) Survey.
The CIC survey is a CG/LA proprietary tool initially developed with the World Economic Forum to score a country's capacity to develop infrastructure projects. The CIC survey polls respondents on eight areas fundamental for infrastructure project development, calling for a ranking from 1-10, with scores below 7 indicating a failing grade.

The U.S. Score for 2011 is 43.8, compared to Brazil's most recent score of 50.8 and India's score of 51.3. Below are United States' scores in individual categories:

Overall Vision (3.5);
Public Sector Technical Capacity (4.95);
Public Sector Strategic Capacity (4.45);
Great Projects (6.64);
Leadership (4.18);
Long-term Project Performance (6.43);
Engineering, Procurement, Construction firms (7.62);
Local Equity Capacity (6.05).

Additional Findings:
Respondents were also asked to briefly describe business conditions in the infrastructure marketplace: 93% of executives surveyed said that business conditions in 2012 will be either the same, or slightly better, than 2011 – and virtually all participants said that 2011 is as bad as 2009, the dark year of the recession.

Aside from the extraordinarily low scores, there are a number of important findings. First, two scores - for overall vision and for leadership – are the lowest for any country surveyed. Second, on a positive note, the score for domestic engineering, procurement and construction firms (EPC) is a passing grade, indicating confidence in the technical capabilities of the U.S. private sector to build necessary infrastructure projects.

More Information:
To learn more about the CICsurvey, or the upcoming North American Strategic Infrastructure Leadership Forum, and to receive an embargoed copy of the draft White Paper on U.S. Infrastructure Capacity please register for the press conference to be held at the National Press Club on Wednesday, October 5th, from 12 noon to 1pm. RSVP here: press@cg-la.com

To download the Top 100 projects to be featured at the Leadership Forum or for more information, please visit: http://www.cg-la.com.

SOURCE: CG/LA Infrastructure LLC