Public-private role seen key to building infrastructure
Star Business Report
Public-private partnership is needed to develop infrastructure facilities in Bangladesh, faced with poor tax-GDP ratio and shrinking foreign aid, speakers told a function in Dhaka yesterday.The government should involve private sector in infrastructure development, AKM Shamsuddin, director of Infrastructure Investment Facilitation Center (IIFC), told a two-day training session styled 'Overview of Public-Private Partnership (PPP).' The training session was organised jointly by IIFC and the Board of Investment (BoI). "In the era of globalisation, we should think of partnership for development," said BoI Executive Chairman Nazrul Islam. If a project is implemented with the participation of private and public sectors, management and capital risks can be shared by all, added the BoI executive chairman. Although the 'public-private partnership' is a new concept in Bangladesh, it was introduced in the United States in 1953. The UK government introduced the concept in 1990 styled 'Private Finance Initiative'. Land ports, fibre optic cable network, Gulistan-Jatrabbari flyover, power plants, proposed Dhaka-Chittagong expressway are some of the examples of public-private partnership in Bangladesh, the training session was told. IIFC was formed in 1999 to promote and facilitate private sector participation in the infrastructure sector.
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