尽管来自亚洲和欧洲的建筑承包商承诺在促进经济增长和国际关系的建筑基础设施上合作，但前联合国秘书长正在挑战全球建筑业，以进一步发展并扩大其解决气候变化的努力。

Ban Ki-moon earlier this month praised attendees of the Global Infrastructure Cooperation Conference in Seoul, South Korea, sponsored by the International Contractors Association of Korea, for being like “the U.N. of contractors” in representing various countries. “Without developed infrastructure, no country can fulfill the basic needs of human life,” he said. But he added that the industry contributes 40% to total global energy consumption, and transportation alone contributes 23% to greenhouse gases.

他说：“我敦促您尽力提高空气质量。”他补充说，“贸易保护主义和仇外心理”的全球崛起，“无论有多强大或有钱，这个世界上都没有人可以做任何人。”

铁路视觉

Along the lines of increasing sustainability and international connections, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of South Korea hosted a seminar on a vision of a railroad network connecting the Koreas, China, Russia, Mongolia, Japan and, tradewise, the U.S.

韩国总统穆恩·贾恩（Moon Jae-In）去年提出了这项倡议，称其目的是基于东亚的基础设施投资和经济合作来追求和平与共同业绩。东北亚经济研究所主任Hirofumi Arai说，除美国以外的所有国家的代表都赞扬了这一想法，但指出了诸如“地缘政治不确定性和缺乏信任”之类的挑战。

Bernard Aritua, senior infrastructure specialist with the World Bank, observed that “not only must the backbone be identified, but also last-mile connections and hubs.”

By Aileen Cho in Seoul, South Korea