Governments around the world are using public-private partnerships, or 'P3s', to develop and maintain public infrastructure. "No matter where ... two inter-related trends are at work: the need to upgrade, replace or build out essential infrastructure assets and the inability of governments to finance these current and future infrastructure investments," Moody's Investors Service has pointed out in new report on the topic. In relation to the Asia-Pacific region: "Outside the mature markets of Australia and India, P3s have been slow to develop in the Asia-Pacific region. Emerging regulatory frameworks may be subject to an elevated risk of political interference, and strong legislative frameworks to enforce P3 contracts are lacking in some countries."In Australia, the trend is toward bigger, but fewer, projects, according to the report. Citing Infrastructure Australia, Moody's said the average deal size of P3 projects increased to A$1.2 billion in 2008-11, up from A$570 million in 2004-07. The trend toward larger project sizes, but fewer projects, has continued.Projects range from social infrastructure, such as schools, hospitals and rail stations, to toll roads. Most are sponsored by state-government-guaranteed authorities. "Since 2008, effectively all new P3 projects in Australia have been financed in the bank market through shorter-dated bank loans," said Moody's.A number of projects from the 2006-07 vintage will also require refinancing of their bullet capital-market instruments used to fund construction. As such, improved access to the long-dated capital markets and development of a liquid P3 bond market is needed.