ay be made without written permission. Applications should be sent to OECD Publishing: rights@oecd.org or by fax (33 1) 45 24 13 91. Permission to photocopy a portion of this work should be addressed to the Centre français d'exploitation du droit de copie, 20, rue des Grands-Augustins, 75006 Paris, France (contact@cfcopies.com). PREFACE Preface Following an extensive international consultation process with government departments and agencies, corporations and research institutes, the OECD International Futures Programme launched a two-year project in the Spring of 2005 on "Global Infrastructure Needs: Prospects and Implications for Public and Private Actors". This publication is an interim report, reflecting findings to date. The purpose of the project is to take stock of the long-term opportunities and challenges facing infrastructures worldwide, and to propose a set of policy recommendations to OECD governments that aim to enhance infrastructures' contribution to economic and social development in the years to come. The project has a time horizon out to 2020-30. It covers energy, surface transport, water and telecommunications, and focuses on OECD countries and some of the so-called Big 5 economies (Brazil, China, India, Indonesia and Russia). One of the expected benefits of this multi-sectoral approach to infrastructures is that it will generate interesting common lines of enquiry and give rise to instructive cross-sectoral implications. The project is being funded by voluntary contributions from governments, public agencies and corporations, who are represented on the Steering Group. The Steering Group advises the OECD Project Team on the content and direction of the project. (The reader will find a list of the Group's members at the conclusion of this publication.) Countries represented are Canada, Denmark, France, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The Steering Group met for the first time in June 2005 and held a second meeting in December 2005. Tw