As governments have limited resources, time is ripe now for sub-national governments, including Karnali, to think about bringing in the private sector and partnering with them for creating environment for shared growth at local levels.
Partnering with the private sector will free up time and resources for the government of Karnali to focus on other important priority areas and public service delivery. It is therefore a welcome move indeed that the Karnali provincial assembly has already passed the Public Private Partnership Bill.
Hriti Foundation believes that public policies should be a matter of public affair not only once they are endorsed, but from the very drafting phase. This is where we echo the genuine concerns of the sectoral experts as well as the private sector in relation to the Act. The private sector should feel that the government offers them a smooth and secure environment to operate, policy is stable, and the legislation offers a clear framework for operation. No private sector would be truly attracted to invest in Karnali unless we can guarantee these.
The private sector needs to see clearly through operational issues like what PPP models are in offer, what would the governance structure of the partnership look like, how would benefits and liabilities be shared, what compliance measures would apply to them, what tax policy would be applicable to them, where would other stakeholders like the banks and financial institutions come in and what role would they play, what do exit mechanisms look like under different circumstances, etc.
In order to ensure that the Act undergoes the right amount of discourse that the private sector deserves and that the end legislation is something that is clear and smoothly implementable, Hriti Foundation is preparing a discussion paper on Initiatives and Possibilities of Public Private Partnership (PPP) in Karnali.
You can read the Public Private Partnership Act passed by Karnali Provincial Assembly by clicking this link.
