A guidebook on public-private partnership in infrastructure

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A GUIDEBOOK ON
 
PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP IN 
INFRASTRUCTURE 
 
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMISSION FOR ASIA AND THE PACIFIC 

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This Guidebook was developed by Mr. Abdul Quium of the Transport 
Division of ESCAP. Its development benefited from the work of the 
secretariat in the area of public-private partnership in infrastructure 
development and interaction with practitioners from many countries. 
The Guidebook is based on an earlier developed Primer on public-
private partnerships in infrastructure development. 
The views presented in the Guidebook may not necessarily be 
considered to represent the official views of the Secretariat of the 
United Nations. 
The designation employed and the presentation of the material in this 
publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on 
the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal 
status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or 
concerning the delimitation of the frontiers or boundaries. Mention of 
firm names and commercial products does not imply the endorsement 
of the United Nations. 
The Guidebook has been issued without formal editing. 
Copyright © United Nations 2011 
UNESCAP 
Bangkok, January 2011 

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A Guidebook on Public-Private Partnership in Infrastructure
 
 

The Purpose of this Guidebook 

Public-private partnership (PPP) in infrastructure is a relatively new 
experience in most developing countries of the Asian and Pacific region. Although 
many governments have considered various steps to promote PPPs in their 
countries, lack of capacity in the public sector remains to be one of the major 
problems in implementing PPP projects. So far, only few countries have established 
institutional arrangements and developed manuals and resource materials in support 
of PPP development and for the capacity-building of their public officials. In the 
absence of such established institutional arrangements and resource materials, 
public officials face difficulties in project development and implementation, and 
general public can have many misunderstandings about PPPs. 
This Guidebook describes the overall process and activities usually involved 
in PPP project development, implementation and management. It has been 
developed as a general resource material for better understanding of the whole 
process. The Guidebook also revisits some of the basics of PPPs to help understand 
the process and the requirements for developing successful projects. As the actual 
process followed in a country depends on its administrative and institutional 
arrangements, this Guidebook is not a substitute for manuals/advisory guidelines 
that many countries have developed
∗
and other countries may consider to develop.
The Guidebook is divided into six chapters. Chapter 1 revisits the basics of 
PPPs in infrastructure. It focuses on three things: the characteristics that make PPPs 
different from conventional construction projects, models of PPPs, and the basic 
structure of a PPP project. 
Chapter 2 considers the PPP process and the matters that need to be taken 
into account before any project development starts.
The preparatory activities prior to actual project development tasks are 
considered in Chapter 3. This chapter identifies the key tasks at the preparatory 
stage and makes elaborations on those tasks. 
Chapter 4 deals with project development and due diligence. It identifies the 
key tasks involved in project development and describes the details of those tasks. 
Procurement is the subject of discussion in Chapter 5. This chapter describes 
the typical activities involved in this stage. 
Chapter 6 is the last chapter of the Guidebook. It considers contract 
management and dispute resolution. 
∗ Manuals/handbooks and guidelines have been developed in many countries including Australia, Singapore 
and South Africa. The development of this Guidebook has also benefited from these manuals and 
handbooks as well as practices followed in those and other countries. 

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A Guidebook on Public-Private Partnership in Infrastructure 
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