(MENAFN- The Peninsula) The Qatari Government is showing an increasing appetite to enter into public private partnerships (PPPs) to deliver infrastructure projects and drive growth in the country, according to KPMG infrastructure experts.
The scale of Qatar's infrastructure plans and the Government's commitment to increase the role of the private sector in the nation's economic growth has led to an increase in the number of infrastructure assets being considered for development through the PPP model. This strategy is in line with the desire to carve out a larger role for the private sector in the economic diversification process.
Mihir Shah, Director and Head of Infrastructure at KPMG in Qatar said: "There are opportunities to apply the PPP model across both traditional, hard infrastructure and critical social infrastructure. With a rapidly growing population, both these areas will require significant investments and entering into partnerships with the private sector provides an ideal solution to complement government spending, bolster capacity and drive growth."
According to the World Bank, over the last few years, the private sector's contribution to public infrastructure through PPPs in emerging economies has averaged about $180bn a year.
James Stewart, KPMG's Chairman of Global Infrastructure, who was in Doha recently to meet key government and business leaders said; "globally, PPPs have served as an important tool to bridge the infrastructure gap. A key driver in many emerging markets is the desire to spread the cost over the life time of the asset and avoid an upfront hit to the capital budget. Within GCC, there are clear signs of a shift in momentum, with governments exploring options to enter into PPPs and importantly, GCC nations are looking beyond the investment element of infrastructure. They are also looking to partner with the private sector to improve delivery of public services and efficient management of public assets."
On Qatar, Mihir Shah continued; "KPMG is currently involved in number of PPP initiatives in Qatar and our experience has shown that the PPP approach has a significant potential to help achieve the objectives of the Qatar National Vision 2030. However, to develop a vibrant and robust PPP program, Qatar must ensure that there is a well thought out PPP framework in place, projects are backed up by thorough business case and affordability analysis, right expertise is available on the public sector client side and a visible pipeline of viable projects is created."
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