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The Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Office of Bangladesh has completed stakeholder consultation on the draft PPP Law and Operational Manuals, which takes the country a few steps ahead towards having a conducive PPP Framework. The country's PPP Framework now comprises a fully functional PPP Office; a PPP Unit under the Finance Division, Ministry of Finance; and active focal points at the Line Ministries/Implementing Agencies with improved capacity and necessary documentation.

The PPP Office launched Stakeholder Consultations on 15 March 2012, to finalize the detailed policies and process of PPP in consultation with various ministries and other stakeholders. The consultation sessions covered the public sector officials of the PPP focal points including the Line Ministries, Implementing Agencies and the Donor Agencies. Over a 100 key stakeholders from these sectors have been consulted till date. Based on the comments and insights obtained from the consultation and review process, the Draft PPP Law, Project Screening Manual, Project Development Manual, Tender Process Manual, Environmental and Social Safeguards Framework, and 4 Model Concession Agreements have been finalized.

Apart from the public sector stakeholders, private investors and Private Financial Institutions (PFI) have also been engaged in the PPP program through separate consultation meetings. The objectives of these consultation sessions were to raise awareness about PPP, the implementation programme, operating manuals and the PPP Law; to discuss the roles of the private sector investors and lenders and the various ways to involve the private sector in PPP projects. The consultation process was led by the CEO, PPP office and participated by Ministry of Finance Officials, ADB officials and consultants. Notable public institution and business leaders, such as the Deputy Governor, Bangladesh Bank, President, DCCI and senior officers of the leading PFIs attended the sessions. During the sessions, the experts from the PPP Office and ADB discussed the importance of PPP to accelerate investment in infrastructure development. The participants discussed various issues in undertaking infrastructure projects and shared ideas on how the enabling framework for executing PPP transactions could be further developed.

The PPP Office is currently working to obtain necessary approval from concerned authorities and enacting the Draft PPP Law. Major Capacity Development Programs are underway to provide a comprehensive and structured approach to build awareness and capacity within the public sector to develop and execute PPP projects. This will build on the number of consultation meetings held by the PPP Office with 23 Ministries and Public Agencies.

ith noteworthy progress made during the first of half of this year, the PPP Office is targeting acceleration in the development of the PPP pipeline and project development over the second half of this year. The PPP Office has already identified eight pilot projects under different ministries and further projects are currently being screened for PPP selection. The stakeholder engagement programs have revealed the enthusiasm of the public and private partners to become a part of this program, given the strong and efficient structure for undertaking PPP projects. With the established PPP Framework and the combined effort from the private and public partners, the PPP Program has the potential of becoming an exemplary success in Bangladesh.