Korea's first PPI deal is out

The Daegu-Busan Expressway project will be the first facility that is to achieve financial closing in the international market under the under the government’s Private Participation in Infrastructure (PPI) scheme since the Private Infrastructure Investment Center of Korea (PICKO) was established in April 1999. The offshore financing has been syndicated and documentation is almost complete. With this, more will now be expected to follow although financing for other projects may still take long gestation period. Makoto Inoue, vice president at the project finance group, international finance division of Dai-ichi Kangyo Bank, discusses the expressway project.