Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 3-4 June, a virtual seminar of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Institute on the topic “Analysis of the effects of infrastructure in Asia using Big Data: related effects and financing” was held in Tokyo (Japan).

The agenda of the event included proposals for research based on Big Data, on the socio-economic side effects of infrastructure projects and measures to optimize them to mobilize the growth of private investment.

The seminar was attended by over 65 participants, among them leaders and experts of think tanks, universities, as well as leading international organizations in the field of infrastructure.

In particular, reports were made by the Chief Executive Officer of the ADB Institute Tetsushi Sonobe, researcher at the Wharton School Eugene Chao, Professor of the University of California at Berkeley David Wells Roland-Holst, Honorary Professor of Keio University in Tokyo Naoyuki Yoshino, and others.

From the Uzbek side, Doctor of Economics, Director of the Institute for Forecasting and Macroeconomic Research (IFMR) under the Ministry of Economic Development and Poverty Reduction of the Republic of Uzbekistan U. Abidkhajhaev took part in the event.

The head of the IPMI made a presentation on the topic: "Evaluation of the effectiveness of investments in infrastructure in Central Asia: the case of Uzbekistan", on the example of a successfully implemented investment project of the Angren-Pap railway connection.

“The primary results of our empirical study based on the difference-in-differences methodology show that the impact of the Angren-Pap railway project on gross regional product (GRP) and gross industrial value added was positive, associated with a statistically significant increase. new enterprises in the regions of influence,” noted Umid Abidkhadzhaev.

During the discussion on the further strategy in the field of infrastructure investments, it was noted that, as the experience of Japan in 1956-2010 showed, the impact of infrastructure development on the macroeconomic situation in the country is uneven in different periods of time. According to Yoshino’s analysis using the translog type production function, the greatest macroeconomic effect on the Japanese economy from infrastructure investment was observed in 1961-1965, after which there was a gradual decline in efficiency. In his opinion, the reasons for the decline in the efficiency of infrastructure investment in Japan were two factors: the transition of infrastructure investment from a densely populated urban area to the infrastructure of a sparsely populated rural area, as well as the consequences of an aging population.

In this regard, according to the former head of the ADB Institute, the risk of overinvestment in infrastructure projects in the context of developing countries is unlikely. At the same time, the expert believes that in order to level the risk of overinvestment in infrastructure, it is recommended to adhere to a general rule of thumb: direct infrastructure investments primarily to the most densely populated areas in order to achieve maximum macroeconomic return.