Building Stronger Public-Private Partnerships

Participants at the 3 day PPP seminar in the United Republic of Tanzania

In an effort to strengthen relations and broaden investment opportunities in the Southern African Development Community (SADC), senior civil servants and private sector executives will meet at a three-day seminar on public-private partnership in Arusha, United Republic of Tanzania, from 6 to 9 December 2005.

The event is organised by the Centre of Specialisation for Public Administration and Management, University of Botswana, and the Commonwealth Association for Public Administration and Management, in association with the Government of Tanzania, the Commonwealth Business Council and the Commonwealth Secretariat. The theme will be 'Public-Private Partnerships: Negotiating Relationships, Implementing Agreements and Managing Risk'.

Participants will focus on the challenges and constraints of public-private partnerships for managers in the African public services. They will discuss international and regional experiences in negotiating relationships, implementing agreements and managing risk in an effort to develop in-country action plans in the SADC region. The aim is to develop capacity and expertise in public-private partnerships by identifying critical competencies and skill sets for effective management.

Dr Srinivas Sampath, Adviser on Public-Private Partnership at the Secretariat's Governance and Institutional Development Division, said that public-private partnerships provide a viable alternative for effective delivery of services. Through collaborative efforts between both private and public sector organisations, more access is extended to resources to raise funds for important community programmes. At the same time, these partnerships introduce innovation in how service delivery is organised and carried out.

According to Dr Sampath, at the heart of any such partnership is effective risk sharing and risk transfer between the public sector and its partners. He added that the workshop would also provide the public sector in SADC member states with a blueprint for effectively managing risk and contractual issues while implementing public-private partnerships.

 

CNIS - Commonwealth News and Information Service Issue 263, 30 November 2005

Key Links:

• Governance and Institutional Development

Related News:

• SADC