Public Private Partnerships
The idea of government working with private enterprise to better develop a range of services is not a new one, even here in Thailand. However the idea has been much more widely used in the west where a variety of infrastructure improvement programmes have been carried out. Developing nations can also embrace Public-Private Partnerships although a number of challenges remain. Pattamaporn Kittipanachol investigates.
Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) are collaborative efforts that pool technical expertise, experience and investment from professionals in the private and public sectors to provide public services in virtually any sector.
Thailand first used PPPs in 1992, primarily with infrastructural projects such as water and sanitation, telecommunications and energy, throughout the decade which enabled the country “to grow rapidly with good road networks, ports, new airports and industrial estates. But there have been very few infrastructure projects over the last three or four years,” says Steve Buckley, director of UK Trade and Investment at the British Embassy in Bangkok.
“The biggest problem with PPPs is that people don’t understand how broad it can be. In the UK, jails, hospitals and schools are funded as PPPs. We have G4S [international security corporation] running a jail,” and a hospital run by a French company that outperforms the National Health Service.
