Partnerships with the private sector will be critical to mobilize the financing needed to implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be adopted in September 2015 by the UN General Assembly. Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs), including concessions, can play an important role in delivering the infrastructures and services needed provided solid institutional and legal frameworks are in place.
In order to help building-up such frameworks, the Confederation of International Construction Associations (CICA) and the French Institute of International Legal Experts (IFEJI), with the support of the French Government and of the French Employers’ Federation (MEDEF), are establishing an International Specialist Centre of Excellence for Public-Private Partnerships Policy, Laws and Institutions.
The Centre is part of the UNECE International PPP Centre of Excellence.
Speaking at the launch of the new Centre in Paris, Marc Frilet, Vice-President of IFEJI, declared: “Many PPP projects go ‘into distress’and fault lines in the institutional and legal framework are a major cause. Well-designed regulations and standards in the field of PPPs are thus an imperative”.
Geoffrey Hamilton, Head of the UNECE international PPP Centre of Excellence in Geneva, said: “The contractual as well as the legal, institutional and investment frameworks are at the core of PPPs. Via this new Centre, we will strengthen our capacity to support Governments in creating the appropriate enabling environments for PPPs.”
Among the problems often encountered in national institutional and legal frameworks are: the lack of a clear authority within a Government for deciding upon PPPs; the failure to allow lenders to use project assets for security; and no clear reference to allowing international commercial arbitration in case of dispute. The lack of an adequate PPP law, addressing all practical issues in an equitable, clear and simple manner, is frequently the number one problem in countries.
The Centre will accordingly focus on developing practices covering different contractual and legislative aspects of PPPs. Top experts from around the world will work in the Centre to formulate an integrated set of PPP policies, templates, clauses, legislative texts and procedures. This will include critical aspects such as: project preparation and procurement; project planning and prioritization; as well as dispute avoidance and dispute resolution mechanisms.
As a result of the work of the Centre, the legal and regulatory frameworks in countries will be strengthened. The first standard developed with the contribution of the Centre will be an international ‘Charter on zero tolerance to corruption in PPP’.
For further information, please contact Tony Bonnici ([email protected])