Global Transport Infrastructure Investment Still Facing Procurement Hurdles

A new report on global transport infrastructure investment has highlighted major challenges to meeting global needs, and those needs are huge.

The Global Infrastructure Hub estimates that £38.5tn worth of investment is needed by 2040 to meet growing demands across sectors such as roads, rail, ports, and airports. But a new report from Ansarada Procure highlights that in 2024, the value of global transport infrastructure investment was just £181bn – well off the pace needed to meet the 2024 target.

The new report, based on surveys of senior executives across the world, including government agencies, privately owned transport infrastructure developers and transaction advisory firms, sets out some big challenges.

Procurement

With regard to procurement, 35% of participants in the report said they’d fount their most recent procurement process somewhat or extremely inefficient.

C2 Consulting principle and managing director, Craig Covil helped to illustrate some of these inefficiencies for the report.

“A major issue is risk sharing and transparency. Owners often hold back critical project data – like geotechnical and utility relocations – until after bidders have been shortlisted.

“That’s backwards. If a bidder finds out after being shortlisted that the geology makes the project unviable for them, they might pull out, wasting everyone’s time. More mature procurement processes get everything into a secure data room and share it from the start.”

Of the senior executives questioned in the report, 50% said that project management of procurement is in need of improvement, with this rising to 66% among respondents from Asia-Pacific.

Other areas cited for improvement were progress monitoring and reporting (44%), documentation (44%) and risk allocation and management (39%)

These are not merely academic concerns. EY infrastructure and capital projects partner Tom Carey warns they have tangible implications for project success around the world.

“Many delays and cost overruns can be traced back to poor procurement or contracting strategies. The key is to get the commercial, regulatory, and risk elements right from the start. By ensuring these fundamentals are addressed, projects can achieve better value for money and avoid the pitfalls that often derail infrastructure delivery.”

The report notes that the big trends in one part of the world may be somewhat different in others.

Asia-Pacific

It says the Asia-Pacific (excluding Australia and New Zealand) is set to lead global transport infrastructure investment over the next two years, where 68% of the report’s respondents say economic growth is the main driving factor behind investment.

Ambitious national infrastructure plans in India, Indonesia, Vietnam and other nations in the region have set out significant pipelines for industry. In India, the Bharatmala Pariyojana project is delivering over 35,000 kilometers of highways and urban transit is also expanding, with metro systems operational in Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore, while new lines are under construction in Tier-2 cities such as Surat and Kanpur.

In Indonesia, the Trans-Java Toll Road is now fully operational, reducing logistics costs and travel times, while the Trans-Sumatra Toll Road is 60% complete. The highly anticipated Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Rail, Southeast Asia’s first, is expected to be fully operational by mid-2025, transforming intercity travel.

And in Vietnam, which is emerging as a major infrastructure market, the North-South Expressway is well underway and in urban mobility, Hanoi’s Metro Line 2A is operational, and Ho Chi Minh City’s first metro line is slated for launch by the end of 2025.

Beyond Asia-Pacific

The report suggests that investment expectations are divided in the rest of the world, with 31% of respondents identifying Africa and Europe as the next most promising regions—each presenting distinct opportunities and challenges.

Africa’s focus remains on closing critical infrastructure gaps that have long hindered economic development. Projects such as the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) Corridor in East Africa and the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor in West Africa aim to enhance cross-border connectivity.

However, financing remains a major hurdle, with projects heavily reliant on multilateral institutions, public-private partnerships and foreign investment.

In Europe, on the other hand, sustainability and modernisation are major drivers under the European Green Deal, which drives significant investment in green transport solutions.

Vast initiatives such as the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) focus on enhancing cross-border connectivity while reducing emissions. Urban mobility is also evolving, with expanded metro networks and smart transportation systems being rolled out in cities like Paris, Berlin, and Madrid.

Risk and private finance

The report highlights the significant challenge that remains in effective risk allocation on transport infrastructure investments. This is of particular relevance in the UK right now, where the government is looking at private finance options for its ambitious infrastructure growth agenda.

One of the biggest hurdles the report flags up for models like public-private-partnerships is financing and revenue risk due to dependence on long-term forecasts that are vulnerable to economic fluctuations and evolving demand patterns.

While achieving effective risk allocation requires a strategic, multi-faceted approach, the report notes that more granular, practical steps are needed too. 65% of privately-owned transport infrastructure developers surveyed around the world identified advanced risk analysis tools as a key success factor, while 51% of transaction advisories emphasised the importance of standardised contracts to provide clarity, reduce disputes, and ensure compliance.

Level Crossing Removal Project (LXRP) advisor in Australia, Mark Betts, explains that this should all be about putting the right risk in the right place.

“The party best positioned to manage a specific risk should take responsibility for it. For instance, industrial relations risks are best handled by contractors, while systemic risks should remain with the client.”

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