November 30, 2006	Thursday	Ziqa'ad 8, 1427

ISLAMABAD, Nov 29: Adviser to the prime minister on finance Dr Salman Shah has said that the public-private partnership programme launched by the government is bound to succeed.Talking to newsmen after the concluding session of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Forum here on Wednesday, he said the programme offered a great opportunity to the private sector as well as relevant government agencies.

He said given the budgetary constraints, public-private partnership was the only option to meet the development requirements of the country. He was of the opinion that the first few transactions under the programme would be critical.

He said public-private partnership was an established concept in many developed as well as developing countries. He said the forum provided an opportunity to learn from the experience of other countries where the experiment was successful.

“It will help Pakistan design the policy framework in light of the experience of foreign experts,” he remarked.

Earlier addressing the forum he said that the commitment from the highest levels was the single most important feature of all successful public-private partnership programmes. “We are lucky that in Pakistan, we have support from all levels of the government,” he remarked.

He said the Infrastructure Project Development Facility (IPDF) was a major initiative that would completely transform the way infrastructure was procured and services were provided. “The government will provide targeted subsidies to projects where cost recovery tariffs are not affordable to the target consumers”.

Organised by the IPDF in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance, the two-day interactive forum brought together international and regional experts from Partnerships - UK, Indian Planning Commission, IFC, DEPFA Investment Bank, National Treasury, South Africa, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.

Prominent financial agencies, relevant senior government officials from federal as well as provincial ministries also took part in deliberations on the role of government and private sector organisations to implement the PPP programmes in Pakistan.

The second day of the forum was divided in three panel sessions on Municipal Service, Transport, and Social Services”.

Mr Gajendra Haldea of Indian Planning Commission while delving on “Provincial and Local Roads” said the present status of provincial highways in Pakistan required state highways, districts roads and rural road network to have large resources in view of the rapid growth in number of cars, buses, and goods vehicles, and budgetary resources.