CDB hosts PPP ‘Boot Camp’ workshops for 40 regional participants
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – In a bid to further provide practical support to regional governments who are seeking to implement Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs), the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) is currently hosting the first of three PPP Boot Camps at its headquarters in Barbados.
The Boot Camps are part of the US$1.2 million Regional PPP Support Program, which was launched in May 2015, in partnership with the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the World Bank (WB), and the Public-Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (PPIAF). The aim is to assist regional governments in planning their involvement in PPPs and in training their staff to develop and implement the projects.[su_box title=”Caribbean Development Bank” style=”soft” box_color=”#54c0f0″]The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), is a regional financial institution which was established by an Agreement signed on October 18, 1969, in Kingston, Jamaica, and entered into force on January 26, 1970. The Bank came into existence for the purpose of contributing to the harmonious economic growth and development of the member countries in the Caribbean and promoting economic cooperation and integration among them, having special and urgent regard to the needs of the less developed members of the region (Article 1 of the Agreement establishing CDB). In the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, the CDB is recognised as and Associate Institution of CARICOM[/su_box]
Speaking at the beginning of the session, Patricia McKenzie, Vice President, Operations at CDB, said: “When structured properly, with good regulation and qualified private operators, PPPs can deliver superior results than traditionally publicly procured infrastructure projects, in terms of innovation, climate resilience and value for money. However, PPPs are more complex to structure, implement and monitor… Innovative solutions are therefore needed, to unlock private sector investment and efficiency. The list of infrastructure sectors where PPP opportunity exists is long, including energy (both conventional and renewable), ports, airports, water and sanitation, roads and tourism.”
Forty participants from government agencies across the region are participating in the Boot Camps, which are intended to be practical training sessions that cover different phases of the PPP project cycle. Topics covered will range from developing the necessary government policies, to conducting feasibility studies, to structuring transactions, to managing contracts.
Participants are from Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago and the Turks and Caicos Islands. The second Boot Camp will be held in Trinidad and Tobago in November, and the final camp in Jamaica in 2016.