ECC approves public private partnership policy framework
By Khalid Amin

ISLAMABAD—The meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) convened under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister, approved the Policy framework for Public Private Partnerships for the development of infrastructure projects in the country.
The rationale for the Policy framework as approved by the ECC is the recognition that private sector participation in infrastructure projects would require a combination of policy reforms, institutional support, incentives and credit enhancement modalities to encourage its participation in financing, constructing and managing of infrastructure projects.
Similarly there is an urgent need for building the requisite capacity and providing clarity viz the roles and responsibilities of various parties and within the various tiers of the Government i.e. Federal, Provincial and Local levels. The salient features of the Public Private Partnership Policy framework as approved by the ECC are (1) Provision of a check list of ‘best practice’ procurement for Public Private Partnership projects that may require Federal Government support / funding to allow the creation of uniform standards across the country in the medium to long term to provide predictability and transparency (2) Establishment of Infrastructure Project Development Facility (IPDF) under the aegis of the Ministry of Finance, to provide expertise and hands on technical assistance to implementing agencies at all tiers of the Government undertaking Public Private Partnership projects and also to act as a market maker, catalyst and facilitation unit for such projects (3) Provision of a monitoring and evaluation mechanism for the Government to provide Viability Gap Funding to projects where cost recovery tariffs may be unaffordable to the end-users (4) Provision of a mechanism for determining the need for Government guarantees for credit enhancement (5) Provision for entertaining unsolicited proposals to promote innovation as long as the tendering process is competitive. A Task Force on Public Private Partnerships, headed by Dr. Salman Shah, the Advisor to the Prime Minister on Finance, Revenue, Economic Affairs and Statistics and composed of senior officials from the federal and provincial governments has already been established to provide a forum for the stakeholders to formulate recommendation on the various components of the PPP framework i.e. policy and legislation, risk management framework, standardization of documents and procedures and Viability Gap Funding.
The work of the Task Force on the various facets of the PPP framework is being undertaken in parallel and is at an advanced stage. Public Private Partnership project evaluations will focus on, but will not be limited to (a) Transport and logistics including provincial and municipal roads, rail, seaports, airports, fishing harbours as well as warehousing, wholesale markets and cold storages (b) Mass Urban Public Transport including buses, and intra and intercity rail (c) Municipal Services including water supply and sanitation; solid waste management; low cost housing, and health / education facilities etc.
The approval of the Public Private Partnerships Policy framework by the Government is manifestation of its commitment to develop a robust Public Private Partnership programme that will serve the needs of the nation, by providing more and better infrastructure and services to the people of Pakistan by augmenting Government resources in this regard by facilitating mobilization of private sector participation and resources in this effort.