This review underlines the success of Chile’s infrastructure policies which have served as a backbone for it's rapid economic development and social welfare reforms - but the report also highlights the need to update public investment processes to reflect a more integrated approach to long-term development.

What are the potential impacts of not addressing Chile’s infrastructure gaps?

• Economic growth nationally would be constrained, as deteriorating infrastructure can negatively affect the competitiveness of export industries and inflate the prices of imported goods.
• Disparities in economic performance between regions and within metropolitan areas could widen.
• Future resources that could be allocated to strategic infrastructure investment may need to be diverted towards actions to reduce the deterioration of inadequate infrastructure.

The report highlights that:

• productive investment especially in transport infrastructure is vital for prosperity given that the economy heavily geared towards exports and relies on well-functioning logistics; 
• infrastructure responses alone will not be sufficient to meet future needs. Investments need to be accompanied by stronger governance frameworks and institutions, with a clear evaluation processes.
• the importance of the regional dimension. Chile has the most centralised framework of the OECD for public investment, with 88% of that investment decided at the central level – compared to 41% on average in the OECD.

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