The UK is now the 10th most Attractive Economy for Infrastructure Investment

The Global Infrastructure Investment Index, published by Arcadis today, ranks 41 countries by their attractiveness to investors in infrastructure.
Since the first index in 2012, the UK has risen three places (see table, attached) up to 10th and is the third-highest ranked European country in the Index, after Sweden (5th) and Norway (6th).
In order to gauge each nation’s appeal, the study looked at criteria including the ease of doing business in each market, government policy, tax rates, the quality of the existing infrastructure, GDP per capita and the availability of debt finance.
The UK managed to break into the top 10 following improvements across all of these business indicators, while Arcadis also found that an improved financial and taxation environment has increased its appeal to investors.
Optimism has returned to infrastructure investment in the UK, with the government planning to increase capital spending by £3bn per annum from 2015, which will lead to an additional £18bn of investment by the end of the next parliament.
Arcadis UK head of infrastructure Steve Bromhead told Construction News: “The government needs to provide long-term clarity over infrastructure policy and look at the over-prescriptive nature of regulation in several key sectors.
“We will see investment from all over – particularly China, the Middle East, and the US – but the government needs a clear policy on infrastructure.
“It does not matter whether it is the current policy or Sir John Armitt’s alternative proposal, for example; the most important issue here is consistency and clarity to provide security for infrastructure investment
“Otherwise we risk experiencing a stasis in infrastructure investment and .economic growth due to lack of investor confidence.”