Press Releases 2002

January 21, 2002
Concession projects: "Who is afraid of raising tolls?" Bilfinger Berger plays important part in international congress

The World Bank and the International Bankers Forum have invited experts from all over the world to meet in Frankfurt am Main on January 22 and 23, 2002, for a congress on the realisation of private-sector concession projects. The participants in the congress will include Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation, and Peter Woicke, Executive Vice President of the World Bank. James D. Wolfensohn, President of the World Bank, will participate in some of the congress by video telephone from Washington. The Bilfinger Berger Group is involved in the planning of this internationally respected forum.

Herbert Bodner, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors at Bilfinger Berger AG, points out that the advantages of privately financed concession projects are to be seen in an all-round improvement in efficiency. In order to utilise this potential and at the same time to boost investment again in Germany, he calls for a new understanding of the role of the state: "With BOT projects, the state shifts the risk that was previously borne by taxpayers into the private sector, which adopts a holistic approach and can cope with such risks more professionally. Wherever it makes sense, the state restricts itself to formulating its requirements. Private companies compete to fulfil these requirements using a cost-benefit approach." This means that the public sector is no longer the investor, but the user of services. Herbert Bodner sees the latest initiative by the Federal Ministry of Transport as an encouraging step in the right direction. It allows private-sector financing of the widening to six lanes of parts of the motorway network with particularly heavy traffic.

Dr. Walter Hinder, Chairman of the Task Force for Private Funding in the Main Association of the German Construction Industry and member of the Board of Executive Directors at Bilfinger Berger AG, emphasises the positive experience gained with concession projects in other European countries: "For a long time now, in France, not only motorways and railways, but also schools, universities and prisons, have been realised with the support of private capital. But the United Kingdom has made the most progress in this field. So far, over 350 projects have been carried out with a total investment volume of nearly €30 billion, for the construction of bridges and motorways, schools, hospitals and prisons." Meanwhile, some 20 per cent of all public investment in the United Kingdom is now made using private capital.

Within the framework of the congress in Frankfurt, Bilfinger Berger will carry out several workshops with a focus on practical topics. Under the heading of "Who is afraid of raising tolls?", experts will discuss the experience gained with toll roads; and with the motto, "Better education through better schools", experts will examine private-sector school projects in the United Kingdom.

Bilfinger Berger has the benefit of many years: experience with private-sector projects in its international markets. For example, the company is involved in the operation of the Beijing Lufthansa Center in China, and is a partner in the Bangkok Expressway Company, which operates a large part of the highway system in Thailand's capital city. Some other examples are the Colonial Stadium multifunctional event centre in Melbourne, Australia, and several school and hospital projects in the UK. In Germany, Bilfinger Berger is one of the pioneers in this segment. It is playing a major part in the realisation of the Herren Tunnel in Lübeck, and was responsible for the UK's new embassy building in Berlin, a pilot project commissioned by the British Foreign Office.

2nd European Congress on Private Sector Participation in Infrastructure
22-23 January 2002
Alte Oper, Frankfurt am Main

Contact:
Maleki Group Financial Communications & Consulting, Frankfurt am Main
Phone: +49(0)69/97176-208