Before fast-growing demand for infrastructure in Vietnam which demands an investment in excess of the Government’s and donors’ budgets, public private partnership (PPP) model is gradually seen as a leverage to improve quality and expand coverage of infrastructure services in Vietnam today.
PPP model is new to Vietnam but it has been used in the world for over 50 years. According to international experience, PPP model has helped resolve burning issues in large cities like traffic jams, water supply, job creation, etc.
Since PPP is a relatively new concept in Vietnam; so from central governments to local administrative agencies have very little experience in preparing and developing PPP projects. It is a new issue related to technical and financial requirements, legal aspects or long-term contract managing. This inexperience of administrative units in Vietnam was even pointed out in a specialist report by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and French Development Agency (AFD) in May 2010 and took it as a major difficulty in deploying PPP projects in Vietnam. Under these circumstances, the Prime Minister’s issuance of the Decision 71/2010/QD-TTg dated November 9, 2010 on the conditions, procedures and principles applied for a number of pilot infrastructure development projects and public service provisions in the form of PPP placed administrative units in Vietnam before pressing needs for building capacity of PPP project determination and management.
To address this reality, the Ministry of Planning and Investment sought support from donors to establish a standard framework for preparing and signing PPP contracts. As a result, the French Development Agency (AFD) provided a technical support package and methodologies for local administrative units in Vietnam to set up PPP projects for water supply and drainage fields. To implement this project, Hanoi established one working group composing of representatives from the Department of Planning and Investment, the Department of Finance, the Department of Construction, Hanoi Development Fund, Hanoi Water Company, etc. The time for project implementation lasts from August 2012 to November 2012.
As an experienced consultant of water supply in Vietnam, Infra-Thanglong Company was selected as the domestic consultant which worked with the profoundly experienced international consultant, ASPA Utilities Company (France). Consultants chosen will provide water industry analyses, build methodological guidance and conduct pre-feasibility studies for a PPP pilot clean water project in Hanoi.
Within the framework of the project, a technical conference will be held in October 2012. The workshop will provide an opportunity for members of the working group mentioned above to listen to consultants’ water industry analyses and PPP models suitable to actual conditions, chosen pilot project descriptions, explanations for these choices, and project challenges, etc.
At the same time, consulting units also planned a training course in Vietnam and a field-trip study period in Europe for members of the working group not only to have the opportunity to understand study reports by consultants but also learn practical experience about PPP water projects in particular infrastructure development in general in developed countries. The domestic training course will take place in two days in October and the overseas course is set for two weeks in November.
Nguyen Mai
Vietnamese
