UAE PPF 2018 focuses on public-private partnerships

HE Dr Ali Sebaa Al Marri, Executive President of MBRSG, chairs a session at UAE PPF 2018.

The second annual UAE Public Policy Forum (UAE PPF 2018) opened today in Dubai, with a focus on Public Private Partnerships.

The two-day forum, is organised by the Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government (MBRSG), to provide a platform for public and private sector to discuss partnership projects and policies, regulations and action plans.

The UAE PPF 2018 is being held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council, and was inaugurated by HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Foundation (MBRF).

This year's forum is being held under the banner of ‘Shaping the Future of Public Private Partnerships' and covers sectors including healthcare, education, transportation, technology and innovation, urban development and sustainable development.

The forum including an opening panel discussion titled on Constraints, Challenges and Prospects of Public-Private Partnerships, moderated by MBRSG's Executive President HE Dr Ali Sebaa Al Marri, which discussed the importance of PPP in creating the government of the future and catalysing economic development

Speaking at the session, HE Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansoori, UAE Minister of Economy, said: "A robust economy does not rely solely on the government; it counts on a strong private sector and solid relations between private and public. Defining the nature of this relationship is one the main challenges to its success, and this makes it crucial to have a federal law to regulate it, where the government's main role is a supervisory one."

HE Abdulrahman Al Saleh, Director General at the Dubai Government's Department of Finance, stressed that laws and regulations are paramount in building partnerships between the two sectors. "Balancing the needs and requirements of the private and public sectors is the biggest challenge in maintaining the relationship between the two, in addition to the challenge of developing clear regulations for private-sector investment in PPPs," Al Saleh said.

Eng. Abdul Mohsen Ibrahim Younis, CEO of RTA's Rail Agency, said that PPPs financially engage the private sector in government projects and services. It is, therefore, essential to attract these investments as they allow the government to diversify its financial resources and to redistribute funds to suit development needs in other sectors - be they economic or social. These partnerships also improve the competitiveness of government projects, while simultaneously enhancing the performance of the private sector.

Sessions from the first day of the forum also discussed Benchmarking for Public Private Partnerships from the UK Experience, PPPs as a Catalyst for Reform or Commercialization of a Public Service, PPP in education, practical steps for Implementing and Monitoring PPPs and the current status of PPPS in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

The UAE Public Policy Forum 2018 seeks to help stakeholders in both public and private sectors evaluate partnership projects in the UAE and the region, exchange ideas and experiences, and develop new policies, regulations and action plans for sustainable development and the knowledge economy. It focuses on six main pillars: Identifying and evaluating opportunities for public-private partnerships; creating an enabling environment for PPPs; discussing visions and strategies to improve partnerships and increase effectiveness; performance evaluation; using smart technologies and innovation to the benefit of PPPs; and developing policies to govern public-private partnerships in the future.