Many investment experts agree that infrastructure is a very lucrative area for investment. This applies not only inside America and other developed countries, but in the developing countries as well.

For example, the number of car owners in China is expected to increase as the country moves toward industrialization and wages rise. This is great news for automobile manufacturers, but for many private individuals and institutions, the real investment opportunity may be presented by the infrastructure that accompanies this extraordinary wave of mobilization. Railways, streets, power stations and waste disposal are essential in order to maintain the economic momentum in developing countries. Read on for a look at infrastructure investments and how you can use them to build big profits in your portfolio.

The Developing and Developed World
In America and Europe, the older infrastructure is continually becoming rundown, requiring repair and replacement. This depreciation leads to billions of dollars spent on upgrading and maintaining this infrastructure. Tim Albrecht of DWS Funds in Europe explains "we are facing a unique historic situation. Both developed and developing countries will need to extend or revamp their infrastructures". This is going to cost big money.

Nowhere in the world can the public sector finance this alone. It needs investors - and lots of them. What makes it all so appealing is that the earnings are relatively independent of short-term stock market trends and are also calculable.

The collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge in Minneapolis, Minn. in August 2007 suggests the need to address the issue of aging infrastructure. This is an issue, at least to some extent, in many areas of the world; Booz Allen Hamilton, a technology consulting firm, has predicted that the cost of refurbishing, extending or building roadways, power and water facilities (and other infrastructural necessities) will be around $40 billion on a global basis from 2007 to 2032.

Governments looking to improve local infrastructure will have to seek financing for major projects form large scale contracts with suppliers, engineers and contractors.