Policy and Legal Frameworks

2. Policy and Legal Frameworks

106. The Government of Bangladesh has already prepared various documents and manuals for all the steps involved in a successful PPP arrangement. PPP approvals are overseen by several agencies including the Prime Minister’s office. Moreover, PPP financial support vehicles comprise the PPP Office (Prime M inister’s office), Ministry of Finance, and Bangladesh Infrastructure Financing Fund. These three bodies provide financial support services.

107. The Policy and Strategy, 2010 specifies the priority sectors for PPP as follows:

(i) exploration, production, transmission, and distribution of oil, gas, coal, and other mineral resources;

(ii) oil refinery and production of liquefied petroleum gas; (iii)

production of fertilizer; (iv)

power generation, transmission, distribution, and services; (v)

airports, terminals and related aviation facilities; (vi)

water supply and distribution, sewerage and drainage, effluent treatment plants;

(vii) land reclamation, dredging of rivers, canals, wetlands, lakes and other related facilities;

(viii) highways and expressways including mass transit, bridges, tunnels, flyovers, interchanges, city roads, bus terminals, commercial car parking, etc.; (ix)

port development (sea, river, and land) including inland container terminals and inland container depots;

(x) deep sea port development; (xi)

telecommunication systems, networks, and services including information and communication technology;

(xii) environmental, industrial, and solid waste management projects: railway systems, rolling stock, equipment, and facilities;

(xiii) tourism industry; (xiv) economic zone, industrial estates and parks, and city and property

development, including services to support commercial and non-commercial activities;

(xv) social infrastructure (e.g., health, education, human resource development, research and development, cultural facilities); and

(xvi) electronic service delivery to citizens.

A special unit under the Prime Minister’s office called the PPP Office, has been established to deal with all sorts of PPP projects from the government side. The major activities of the PPP Office include (i) initiating, developing, and formulating PPP projects; (ii) actively promoting PPPs; (iii) maintaining a panel of experts for PPP projects; (iv) conducting pre-feasibility and feasibility studies and preparing relevant bidding documents; (v) securing annual technical assistance financing for conducting pre-feasibility and feasibility studies and preparation of relevant bidding documents; (vi) seeking appraisal for viability gap financing for PPP projects; (vii) proposing approval of various laws, rules, regulations, model documents, guidelines, and procedures for general use and use for by specific types of PPP projects; (viii) supporting line ministries and implementing agencies in tendering and selection of investors; (ix) undertaking awareness creation and capacity building activities on PPP affairs in line ministries and implementing agencies; and (x) monitoring PPP projects, including the linked components.

109. Discussion with the officials of the PPP Office reveals that several PPP projects are now in progress in such sectors as roads, shipping, railways, and civil aviation. No project has yet been undertaken in primary, secondary, or higher education.

110. The Government of Bangladesh has recently circulated the PPP Law, 2013 (draft) for public opinion, which awaits approval of the Parliament. The draft law for the first time provides for legal requirements regarding PPPs that include, among other things, the following:

(i) technical assistance financing, viability gap financing, infrastructure financing, and linked component financing;

(ii) selection of private partners; (iii)

purpose and methods of prequalification; (iv)

methods for inviting proposals for PPP projects; (v)

evaluation criteria for technical proposals; (vi)

formation of proposal evaluation committee; (vii)

negotiation rules; (viii) contents and implementation of PPP contents; and (ix)

dispute settlement procedures.