The Special Commission on Infrastructure of the Costa Rican Assembly endorsed the bill that seeks to regulate the schemes for the development of public-private partnership projects.
The initiative, which has yet to go beyond the debate in the Legislative Plenary, establishes the processes and modalities for promoting private investment for the development of public infrastructure, public services and services related to these, applied research projects and/or technological innovation.
The international tender for lighting and video surveillance of 143 kilometers of road sections in El Salvador began, a contract that will be executed through a Public-Private Partnership.
Companies interested in applying for the project will have four months to submit their technical and financial proposal. After an evaluation process, the contract of the winning company must be approved by the Legislative Assembly.
The Central American Bank for Economic Integration approved a loan to the government of Costa Rica to finance part of the project "Fast Passengers Train of the Great Metropolitan Area."
The investment in infrastructure and equipment of the project represents $1.298 million, which is expected to be executed under the modality of Public Private Partnership, with a state contribution of $550 million, which will be provided by the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI), according to a statement from the financial institution.
In El Salvador, the contract for the financing, design, construction and operation of the San Oscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez International Airport Cargo Terminal is tendered under the Public-Private Partnership format.
The project contemplates two phases of development: Phase 1 consists of financing, design, expansion, construction, equipment, improvement of maintenance and operation of the existing Cargo Terminal.
Guatemala, El Salvador and Costa Rica are the countries in the region with the best conditions to develop Public-Private Partnerships, followed by Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama.
The 2019 Infrascope index, which evaluates 23 indicators and 78 qualitative and quantitative sub-indicators in Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) in Latin America, is prepared by The Economist Intelligence Unit and has the financial backing of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
Deficiencies in the regulatory framework, lack of political will and public capacity to plan and monitor partnerships are the reasons why this model of financing has not been used more fully in the country.
A report called Infrascope, prepared by The Economist Intelligence Unit and FOMIN at the World Bank outlines the reasons why the legal concept of partnerships between state agencies and private businesses is not thriving in Costa Rica.
The failure in this country of a model which is successful in others, can be reversed with more efficiency in tender processes and improving the promotion of the projects.
The inability to properly promote and explain the format explains in part its failure in country.
While in other countries these kinds of concessions have proven to be one of the best formats for the development of public works, the mere mention of the word generates negative reactions in Costa Rica from a major part of the population.