As more countries find the solution to their economic woes in large projects, infrastructure related investments and exchange traded funds (ETFs) could become an important theme.

In the next decade, building and renovation of highways and utilities will be a prominent theme in many countries, remarks Roger Nusbaum for TheStreet.

Infrastructure refers to the things we rely on to get by and get around: water, roads, bridges, wastewater treatment, electricity, airports, hospitals, schools and so on.

Emerging nations will have a slowly emerging middle class and they will need all that and more. They’ll need running water, electricity, cars and roads on which to drive them. Developing nations will be spending money to build roads, or update old infrastructure as the case may be in the United States.

The total amount of worldwide infrastructure spending over the next 20 years could amount to $35 trillion, writes Eric J. Gerritsen for The Journal of Commerce. Around $3 trillion worth of this fiscal spending could be put into the global economy within the next 24 months.

• China has pledged $585 billion
• India is expected to spend $500 billion by 2015
• Japan may spend $129 billion

It isn’t all just government money, either. Private companies are expected to contribute to much of this spending, too.

The infrastructure investment theme is likely to remain a compelling venture as emerging markets continues grow.

• SPDR FTSE/Macquarie Global Infra 100 (GII): down 8.4% year-to-date. GII invests in foreign utilities.

• iShares S&P Global Infrastructure Index (IGF): down 2.4% year-to-date. IGF has a mix of utilities and industrial companies.

• PowerShares Emerging Markets Infrastructure (PXR): up 43.3% year-to-date. PXR holds mostly materials and industrial stocks.

• First Trust ISE Global Engineering And Construction (FLM): up 14.7% year-to-date. FLM has a narrow focus on engineering and construction.

For more stories on infrastructure, visit our infrastructure category.

Max Chen contributed to this article.

Tags: Emerging Markets, FLM, GII, IGF, Infrastructure, PXR, Sector ETFs, Utilities