VietNamNet Bridge – A lack of qualified staff with good knowledge of public-private partnership (PPP) is the biggest concern of local government agencies.

Representatives of local departments of planning-investment admitted at a seminar held in HCMC last week in addition to shortages of qualified personnel, they have not comprehended the nature of the Government’s Decree 15/2015/ND-CP on PPP investments.

They said experienced personnel is required for negotiations over PPP projects before local governments sign contracts with investors. However, their staff have experience in public investment projects only.

The Department of Planning and Investment of HCMC where there is high capital demand for infrastructure development, also worries about human resources when it comes to negotiating PPP projects.

Though the PPP model has been somehow applied in Vietnam for a couple of years in the forms of build-operate-transfer (BOT), build-transfer-operate (BTO) and build-transfer (BT), many representatives of the departments have a vague idea of what PPP is really about.

Le Van Tang, head of the Public Procurement Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, told the seminar that many difficulties will definitely arise in the initial stages of applying the PPP investment model.

According to Tang, one of the challenges is that the departments have been familiar with public investment activity and have not got ready for PPP. The ministry has received hundreds of applications for PPP projects but just some of them have been approved. The remaining projects are infeasible as local authorities are not fully aware of PPP criteria.

Tang, however, said the PPP model is an effective channel to attract funding from the private sector to address the country’s increasing capital demand for infrastructure development in Vietnam.

To effectively implement PPP projects, it is important for ministries, agencies and localities to choose viable ones.

As Decree 15 on PPP investments took effect last week, Decree 108/2009/ND-CP on BOT, BTO and BT investments, Decree 24/2011/ND-CP amending Decree 108 and Decision 71/2010/QD-TTg on pilot PPP investments are no longer valid.

SGT