Following its successful hosting of the Second Meeting of the Infrastructure Financing and Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Network in Manila in August 2019 led by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), the PPP Center of the Philippines was invited to the third meeting of the Network held on September 2-3, 2019, at Ningbo City, China.
The two-day meeting, co-hosted by China PPP Center and the Ningbo Municipal Finance Bureau, gathered high-ranking officials from more than 20 country PPP units or equivalent offices to talk about country-specific infrastructure financing and PPP challenges as well as specific early stage projects.
UNESCAP also launched a book titled Infrastructure Financing for Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific, which was put together based on country experiences and challenges. The book is already the third installment for UNESCAP’s Financing for Development Series.
For its part, the PPP Center stressed the need for infrastructure projects not only to be viable for PPP but also to ensure its alignment with social and environmental commitments under the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
“Aside from policy improvements, due diligence in all project development work, and integrity in the procurement process, concrete SDG alignment must be present in PPP projects’ design and engineering, technology, and related operational mechanisms. Most importantly, PPP projects must be resilient, sustainable, and consistent in providing public service,” PPP Center Assistant Secretary and Deputy Executive Director Eleazar E. Ricote mentioned during his session.
The delegates also had the opportunity to visit various waste management and waste-to-energy projects in the model city of Ningbo, all of which are being implemented through PPP. These are relevant and timely following the recently concluded Forum on Renewable Energy and Waste-to-Energy PPPs held last August 30, 2019, at the New World Makati Hotel spearheaded by the PPP Center and the Asian Development Bank. It will be significant to the Center’s ongoing efforts to establish local PPPs in integrated solid waste management and treatment facility and other renewable energy-related projects through its Local PPP Strategy.
Both UNESCAP and China PPP Center acknowledged the remarkable contribution of the PPP Center of the Philippines in hosting the second meeting of the Network in Manila, and on being one of the leading PPP units in the region.
The fourth meeting of the Network is planned to be held during the first half of next year.
