Partnership to be given renewed boost

A DRAFT public private partnership (PPP) bill has been finalised and is now open for public comments, Treasurer and Finance Minister Peter O’Neill announced on Wednesday.
He said a government PPP task force, chaired by the departments of Public Enterprises and National Planning and including Treasury, the Independent Public Business Corporation and the office of the state solicitor, had finalised the bill and an accompanying regulation for public comments.
O’Neill said the bill and regulation would serve as the legislative framework for the implementation of the national PPP policy approved by the National Executive Council in 2008.
“Consistent with the government’s objective to maximise partnership with the private sector, the proposed PPP bill and regulation will promote objective grounds for the procurement and delivery of infrastructure facilities and services through PPP arrangements,” O’Neill said.
He said a specialist PPP centre would be set up under the initiative that would provide greater certainty to the private sector, and therefore, encourage the private sector to invest in, and assist to manage large-scale infrastructure developments in PNG.
He said the draft PPP bill and regulation were undergoing a public consultation process and all interested stakeholders were invited to provide comments before the middle of this month.
“The purpose of the public consultation is to seek views and to involve as many stakeholders and individuals as possible, particularly those that were consulted during the PPP policy formation stage, to inform the finalisation of the PPP bill and regulation.
 “I have instructed the Department of Treasury to publish the PPP bill for easy access by interested parties.
“I would like to acknowledge the support of the Asian Development Bank in the realisation of this important policy initiative of the government” O’Neill said.