The Performance and Challenges of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Projects in Bangladesh

Like many other countries, Public-Private Partnership (PPP) has been appreciated as an important way out for infrastructure development in Bangladesh. Though there have been recent successes in institutional and regulatory framework, other critical issues like transaction expertise, PPP financing facilities are yet to be boosted in the country. There also needs to have a strong incentive for the executing agencies that will bring more bankable PPP projects for the private sector. So far, around 40 private sector infrastructure projects have been completed in Bangladesh with total investment value of US$ 2.9339 billion, and around 40 projects are in the national pipeline. Many PPP projects that were awarded earlier are not performing well due to weaknesses in transaction process. Under this circumstance, to successfully implement PPP projects it is essential to evaluate the effectiveness of the existing PPP project framework in Bangladesh. This paper analyze the selected PPP projects in Bangladesh to draw lesson in the perspectives of the institutional, regulatory, project financing, and other policy relevant issues. The paper specially focuses on up-front project development constrains and corresponding solutions for creating a greater PPP enable environment in the country