NY/NJ Port Authority eyes China investment

An official at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said that the transportation agency welcomes Chinese investment in US infrastructure and that attracting Chinese capital is crucial in executing infrastructure projects going forward.

"The United States is open for business and welcomes capital that creates jobs and opportunities, and that's certainly the case for the state of New York, the state of New Jersey and the Port Authority - we're very excited about the possibilities," said Patrick Foye, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

"One of the characteristics that our assets have is that they generate revenue, which makes it easier to do public-private partnerships and to attract investment and we're going to do everything we can to reach out to the entire world, including Chinese companies and financial institutions, because that's in the interest of the Port Authority," he said on Wednesday at a discussion about infrastructure hosted by the China-US Skyclub.

Foye said that the infrastructure investment deficit is an "extraordinary" amount of money for an economy as large as the US, and there's an opportunity to close that gap with foreign capital.

The Port Authority is a bi-state public agency responsible for airports, bridges, tunnels, and ports, and it is looking to attract private capital to work on revenue-generating projects through public-private partnerships. The partnerships, also called P3 projects, are agreements between public and private sectors or agencies.

Ning Yuan, president of China Construction America Inc, the US subsidiary of China State Construction Engineering Corp, said that the company has $1 billion equity available to spend on projects, but hasn't been able to "find the opportunity to spend it".

The company, founded in the US in 1985, has more than 2,000 employees, 98 percent of whom are domestic hires in the US.

It worked together with US construction company Bechtel to win a bridge project in Alaska, but was turned down for not having P3 experience in the US. Yuan asked Foye for his advice.

"I think these P3s are financial transactions of course, but I don't think that's the most important part of the transaction. First, in the US and in the world there's lots of private capital for investment," he said.

amyhe@chinadailyusa.com?