Electronic Proceedings - United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs

4. Public Support of Infrastructure ProjectsBackgroundgovernmental support of space infrastructure projects has traditionally come from publicfunding of research and development, science and military activitiesmany commercial applications are spin-offs of government activities including launchtransportation, mobile communications, remote sensing and broadband applicationsthe demarcation of public (government) support versus private (commercial) backing oftenis a reflection of the strategic importance of an application or project and the receptivity ofthe financial marketplace (whether institutional or private)at times of economic downturn or financial conservatism, private space industry must lookto government-supported initiatives and programs to sustain itexport credit (U.S. Ex-Im, Coface, ECGD, JBIC) and multilateral agencies (MultilateralInvestment Guarantees Agency, Overseas Private Investment Corp., European InvestmentBank) are being resorted to with increasing frequency when more traditional financing isscarceall operate under guidelines and policies of the OECD (Organization for EconomicCooperation and Development) and the World Trade Organization358Milbank