Outside view Joining forces: the power of public-private partnerships You may struggle to name one, but if you have ever flown in an airplane, stopped at a traffic light or flushed a toilet, you have benefited from a PPP. For decades, public-private-partnerships (PPPs) have been a common way for government and private companies to pool their resources and expertise to finance and manage large-scale public projects, such as airports and highways. But today, PPPs are finding new applications in areas such as education, health, and renewable energy. As the private sector emerges as a player in growth-based development, PPPs have become an attractive way to bring actors from different sectors together to serve the common good while also realising a profit. A new reality For six decades, development has been dominated by state aid – loans, investments and assistance from wealthier industrialised countries to poorer countries. Today, the scope and importance of traditional aid is declining against other capital flows, such as direct investment, remittances and the initiatives of philanthropic foundations. “It’s a new reality,” says Marcel Beukeboom, Head of the Food Security and Financial Sector at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “We are at a crossroads in development cooperation.” In 2008, the credit crisis and persistent recessionary pressures have forced everyone including governments and the private sector to weigh investments more carefully. Many formerly 18 CONNECT #2 JULY 2013 poor countries now have booming economies, yet still contain significant pockets of deep poverty. This complicates aid response scenarios. Countries that once sought to receive aid, such as Ghana, Ethiopia or Vietnam, are now eager to become fully-fledged trading partners with their former donors. Traditional participants in development – government, lenders, philanthropists and NGOs – appear to agree. They are asking the same questions: Which strategies should be retained? Which should be discarded? And what needs to be invented? From aid to trade On one aspect, all agree: Solving today’s critical development challenges demands collaboration. In 2011, the fourth High Level OECD Forum on Aid Effectiveness explicitly recognised the “critical importance of the ‘for profit’ private sector as a key engine of economic growth, job creation, innovation and sustainable development.” Dutch Ambassador to the U.S., Mr. Rudolf Bekink agrees, while emphasising the role of government in ensuring development goals stay a priority. “Our biggest challenge as a government partner in PPPs is to ensure that development impact and relevance is firmly embedded into the partnership,” he says. Embracing this vision, the Dutch government merged development and trade this year at ministerial level. Going forward, Marcel Beukeboom sees the public sector adopting a fluid approach, meeting individual partners where they are on the development spectrum, helping fill their needs for assistance and responding to their economic aspirations, all with an eye to helping them move from aid to trade. Energising the private sector Increasingly PPPs are moving beyond delivering essential infrastructure services to take advantage of Pagina 17
Pagina 19Scoor meer met een webwinkel in uw edities. Velen gingen u voor en publiceerden onderwijs magazines online.
SNV Connect 2013 Lees publicatie 100Home