Press Release
31 May 2013
Taking off from the successful implementation of Phase I of the country’s national capacity building program on PPPs, the Public-Private Partnership Center recently rolled out Phase II of the training program, specifically zeroing in on the elements and structure of a PPP contract. Thirteen (13) national government agencies were initially invited to be part of the four-day training session on the PPP NGA Manual held last May 16-17 and 23-24, 2013. Participants include implementing agencies of the PPP program such as the Department of Transportation and Communications, Department of Education, Department of Health, Department of Agriculture, Department of Public Works and Highways, Department of Tourism and the Laguna Lake Development Authority. Other participants include the PPP programs oversight agencies such as the National Economic Development Authority, Department of Finance, Department of Budget and Management Commission on Audit and the Office of the Solicitor General.
Peter Benson, a consultant from the Australian consulting firm GHD (Gutteridge Haskins & Davey) Pty. Ltd and a legal expert on PPP, was the main resource person for the sessions. Benson lectured on the process, pertinent provisions, and key project documents for PPP projects including contract negotiation.
%%wppa%%
%%slideonly=37%%
%%size=495%%
%%align=center%%
“We see these trainings as material in beefing up the absorptive capacity of our implementing agencies to develop well-structured PPP projects. Hopefully they will assimilate the new information and help keep them grounded specially in assessing their current capacities and resources to implement their projects,” PPP Center Executive Director Cosette V. Canilao explained.
The Center has programmed the delivery of its national capacity building modules on the NGA manual to run through the entire 2013. Phase 1 which featured topics like identification, selection and prioritization of PPP projects, project preparation and an overview of project finance was conducted in April of this year. Later this quarter, Phase III modules will introduce topics on key project documents, ICC guidelines, developing the PPP contract and negotiations. There will also be sessions on contract management, including monitoring and evaluation and managing difficult contract clauses. Also in the pipeline is a specialized training for government lawyers on drafting and negotiating PPP project agreements.
To bolster the momentum of the Center’s training program and ensure its sustainability trainors from implementing agencies will be trained on the NGA PPP Manual by June of this year. The PPP Manual for NGAs will be released in August of this year.
The trainings on the PPP NGA Manual are being conducted under a Capacity Development Technical Assistance (CDTA) 7796-PHI from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAid).
