The Ministry of Planning and Investment and the World Bank (WB) jointly held in Hanoi on Nov. 24 a conference on Vietnam’s Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Programme in infrastructure.

The conference marked the finalisation of several key steps in the development of the Vietnam PPP Programme in infrastructure and the WB pledge to support Vietnam in establishing a market-oriented infrastructure finance system.

Addressing the event, Deputy Finance Minister Tran Xuan Ha underscored that the State needs to have a consistent standpoint in coordinating with the private sector in infrastructure development, and a master plan for it based on sectors and regions with high priority for PPP.

Victoria Kwakwa, WB Country Director to Vietnam , said that the success of pilot PPP projects has instilled trust in the private sector and has given a clear picture of the market.

She stressed that the Vietnamese Government and the WB have agreed that the promulgation of PPP policy in 2010 will be an important milestone in terms of loans for public-private investment.

She also conveyed that the WB Board of Directors has approved a programme to help the Vietnamese Government to implement PPP policy.

The first pilot PPP projects, including highway construction, were selected by the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the WB. Numerous other pilot projects will now be selected following criteria in the PPP policy.

Vietnam considers infrastructure development a major priority to ensure balanced economic growth. Over the past two years, the WB has coordinated with the Ministry of Planning and Investment and relevant agencies in building a market-oriented PPP financing system for leveraging private capital for infrastructure development and has helped the Vietnamese Government with the implementation of pilot PPP projects.

However, Vietnam faced challenges in developing its infrastructure to keep pace with economic growth and serve urban centres and enterprises. Though the country’s sound economy has attracted private sector interests to seek investment opportunities, only a few have been implemented, due to obstacles thrown up by complicated administrative procedures, difficulty in capital recovery and the unclear relationship between the public and private sectors.

The conference created a forum for the Vietnamese Government to receive feedback on the final draft of the PPP policy from foreign and domestic private sectors./.