Bond University and the Asian Development Bank will partner with the Commonwealth Secretariat to deliver a Public-Private Partnerships Leadership Program (from April 7 – 12) to senior government officials from developing Pacific nations, designed to improve cost savings and efficiency in public service delivery in the region.
Bond University has been collaborating with the Commonwealth Secretariat since early 2007 to strengthen public sector capacities in the design and delivery of Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs), with officials from the Asian and Southern African Development Regions having participated in the program last year.
PPPs are contractual arrangements between the public and private sector over a specific period of time in which the private sector receives payment for delivering a service or building or maintaining an asset.
Dr Michael Regan, Associate Professor of Infrastructure at Bond University, said the PPP Leadership Program produces quantifiable and permanent procurement expertise that will benefit infrastructure projects.
“PPPs are achieving value for money and lowering the cost of public procurement through optimal risk transfer and sharing between the public and private sector, the life-cycle costing of the project, and the encouragement of innovative design and technology,” Dr Regan said.
“They account for around 10 per cent or less of public capital expenditure in most economies and most projects are delivered on time and within budget.”
Dr Regan pointed out that PPPs are beneficial to the government and the public as they deliver better value for money than traditional procurement.
“PPP projects have been used across a number of sectors, including the construction and maintenance of highways, schools, hospitals, ports, airports, court houses, prisons as well as public utilities such as energy and water supply systems,” he said.
He stressed that PPPs offer a systematic form of project evaluation and service delivery which narrows the opportunity for corruption and offers an independent review of processes at every stage, from the bidding stage through to review and contract management.
“Public accountability and transparency of transactions in PPPs are critical for public acceptance and support,” Dr Regan said.
Public-Private Partnerships Advisor at the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Laure Darcy, said ADB is committed to supporting the development of PPP policy frameworks, building capacity within the public sector to identify PPP opportunities, and providing technical assistance to structure and execute PPP transactions.
“While PPPs are not new in the power and sanitation sectors in the Pacific; policy makers are now exploring PPP opportunities in the transport infrastructure and health sectors to leverage scarce public financial resources,” Ms Darcy said.
“They are increasingly turning to PPPs to help them do more with less,” she said.
PPP Adviser at the Commonwealth Secretariat, Dr Srinivas Sampath, said some 100 countries around the globe are experimenting with different forms of PPPs.
“The Commonwealth’s work in PPPs contributes towards building modernised national infrastructure, nurturing the private sector and delivering efficient public services.
“This supports the mandate of the 2007 Kampala Declaration by Commonwealth Heads of Government aimed at transforming societies to achieve political, economic and human development,” Dr Sampath said.
In addition to hosting member governments from the Pacific region from April 7 - 12, Bond University will also host Caribbean region members later this year.
Bond University is also offering annual scholarships for doctoral studies in infrastructure management that will help applicants from developing countries to deepen their understanding and expertise in this field.