Introduction
Cooperation is increasing between the public and private sectors for the development and operation of infrastructure for a wide range of economic activities. Such Public-Private Partnership (PPP) arrangements are driven by limitations in public funds to cover investment needs and by efforts to increase the quality and efficiency of public services. PPPs have a long history in some Member countries of the EU while being a more recent development in others. PPPs have received a boost in various countries undergoing significant economic growth. The efforts of the Accession Countries to reform and upgrade infrastructure and services could potentially benefit from the PPP approach. This is particularly true, given the enormous financing requirements to bring this infrastructure up to standard.
There is no consensus on how to define a Public -Private Partnership (PPP) model. The PPP term can encompass hundreds of different types of long-term contracts with a wide range of risk allocations, funding arrangements, and transparency requirements involving both the public and private sectors. The advancement of PPPs, as a concept and practice, is a product of new public management in the late 20th century, the rise of neoliberalism, and globalization pressures. Despite the absence of formal consensus on a definition, major entities have provided definitions for the term . Below are a few general definitions of PPP or 3P.
PPP Definition
8- Definition by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD): 9- PPP in General Vision: PPP Union Opinion:
A Public-Private Partnership (PPP) is a collaboration between the public sector and the private sector aimed at delivering a project or service traditionally provided by the public sector.
A partnership is an arrangement between two or more parties who have agreed to work cooperatively toward shared and/or compatible objectives, and in which there is shared authority and responsibility; joint investment of resources; shared liability or risk-taking; and ideally, mutual benefits. (UNECE TRAINING MODULE 2012 Publication)
The main objective of the Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) area is to enhance the expertise of governments to identify, negotiate, manage, and implement successful PPP projects. This is achieved through the exchange of knowledge and experiences regarding PPPs among member states, including experts from both public and private sectors, particularly in the identification and testing of best practices. The activities will yield standards, guides on best practices, studies, and innovative tools that can be utilized in capacity-building programs and training.
An arrangement between two or more entities that enables them to work cooperatively toward shared or compatible objectives, in which there is some degree of shared authority and responsibility, joint investment of resources, shared risk-taking, and mutual benefit. (February 28-29, 2008)
Public-Private Partnership (PPP) can be broadly defined as a contractual agreement between the government and a private firm, aimed at financing, designing, implementing, and operating infrastructure facilities and services that were traditionally provided by the public sector. It embodies optimal risk allocation between the parties—minimizing costs while achieving project developmental objectives. Thus, the project must be structured in such a way that the private sector receives a reasonable return on its investment.
The term “PPP” refers to several elements, including the existence of a ‘partnership’ style approach to infrastructure provision, as opposed to an arm’s length ‘supplier’ relationship… Either each party assumes responsibility for an element of the total enterprise and collaborates, or both parties share joint responsibility for each element… A PPP involves the sharing of risk, responsibility, and reward, and value.
The public and private parties share their facilities for the development of fundamental humanitarian projects, with the saving of public budgets allowing for the execution of more projects within a single budget being the main purpose and meaning. Public-Private Partnership (PPP) is a project funding model regulated by UNECE and Asian countries, established on October 5, 2016, under Law Number 1228 in Afghanistan. The special purpose of the PPP is to improve employment and prevent illegal activities and unemployment. The PPP model is also applicable between two private parties sharing their facilities for planned humanitarian projects. (ADP Publication 2022 By Dr. Khadim)
A PPP is a cooperative venture between the public and private sectors, built on the expertise of each partner to best meet clearly defined public needs through the appropriate allocation of risks, resources, and rewards.
Public-private partnerships are defined as “long-term contractual arrangements between the government and a private partner, whereby the latter delivers and funds public services using a capital asset, sharing the associated risks.”
A Public–Private Partnership (PPP, 3P, or P3) is a long-term arrangement between a government and private sector institutions. Typically, it involves private capital financing government projects and services up front, and then drawing revenues from taxpayers and/or users over the course of the PPP contract. Public–private partnerships have been implemented in multiple countries and are primarily used for infrastructure projects. They have been employed for building, equipping, operating, and maintaining schools, hospitals, transport systems, and water and sewerage systems.
Cooperation between private actors, corporations, and governments has existed since the inception of sovereign states, notably for the purpose of tax collection and colonization. In some types of public-private partnerships, the cost of using the service is borne exclusively by the users, for example, by toll road users such as those on Yonge Street at the dawn of the 19th century. Contemporary “public-private partnerships” emerged around the end of the 20th century and were associated with neoliberal policies aimed at increasing the private sector’s involvement in public administration. Governments around the world viewed them as a method of financing new or refurbished public sector assets outside their balance sheets. At the dawn of the millennium, this vision of PPPs came under heavy criticism, as taxpayers or users still had to pay for those PPP projects, along with disproportionately high interest costs.
PPPs are controversial as funding tools, primarily due to concerns that public returns on investment are lower than those for the private funder. PPPs are closely related to concepts such as privatization and the contracting out of government services. The secrecy surrounding their financial details complicates the process of evaluating whether PPPs have been successful. Advocates of PPPs highlight the sharing of risk and the development of innovation, while critics decry their higher costs and issues of accountability. Evidence of PPP performance in terms of value for money and efficiency, for example, is mixed and often unavailable.
A PPP is a regulated model for funding humanitarian projects, representing a partnership arrangement between two or more parties who have agreed to work cooperatively toward shared and/or compatible objectives, in which there is shared authority and responsibility.