Public-private partnership forum to highlight investment prospects

Muscat: Oman’s Supreme Council of Planning is preparing to host the country’s first public-private partnership (PPP) forum to discuss ideas of cooperation between the public and private sectors that will help boost the economy.
The forum will be held on Monday, 7 October, and Tuesday, 8 October, at the Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre, in collaboration with Bayan Investment House. It will be held under the patronage of Darwish bin Ismail Al Balushi, the minister responsible for Financial Affairs.
A statement from the Supreme Council of Planning (SCP) said, “The objective of the forum is to exhibit opportunities that will boost the Sultanate’s economy and showcase attractive investment prospects. The two-day event will feature eight speakers from prominent international institutions and set to bring together government officials, project owners, consultants, financial institutions, private investors and stakeholders from across key sectors. During the forum, the speakers will involve in interactive dialogue sessions and will discuss a series of topics related to PPP.
“The number of attendees is expected to reach about 400 people,” added SCP. “The PPP forum is aimed at exchanging knowledge and experiences about the public-private partnership and its principals. It will discuss a wide array of subjects that includes best practices from regional and international experiences in PPP, strategies for development projects via PPP models, financing structures, investment opportunities, feasible projects for partnership as well as localising and integrating global experiences. The forum will shed light also on success stories and the aspects of benefiting from them.”
The PPP model involves a partnership between a government entity and a private sector company to finance, establish or operate ventures. This type of partnership allows the establishment of major projects with the support of the private sector.
The model ensures faster completion of projects, reduces the financial burden on governments and share economic risks with the private sector. Furthermore, it will bring innovative technologies from the aprivate companies into the public sector and attract national, regional and foreign investments.