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

The conference marked the finalisation of several key steps in the development of the Vietnam PPP Programme in infrastructure and the WB pledged 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 viewpoint in co-ordinating 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. A lot of 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 co-ordinated 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.

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. (VNA)