A public private Partnership (Ppp), as its name suggests, is a project whose participants are members that come from both public and private sectors. public means the national government along with government-owned-and-controlled corporations (Gocc), while private simply means individuals or private companies. On the other hand, Build operate transfer (Bot) Programs are a type of Ppp that typically deals with civil infrastructure like roads, airports, bridges and other installations.
The first country in Southeast Asia to formally implement a Bot-Ppp project is the Philippines, with the building of the North Diversion Road, now known as the North Luzon Expressway (Nlex), more than three decades ago. The Nlex connected the capital, Metropolitan Manila, to Tabang, Guiguinto, Bulacan, a suburb, by a four-lane, 40 mile-long high way.
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At a time when the whole Southeast Asia was looking ways on how to fund civil infrastructure without amassing debt, the Nlex was touted as a major administrative-slash-fiscal miracle. Countries like Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Kampuchea (Cambodia) all went to the Philippines to learn how Filipinos did it.
Afterward, these countries implemented a Bot model of their own. Actually, they extended the idea of private participation not only in civil infrastructure amelioration but also in revenue generation projects and public welfare programs. Indeed, Southeast Asia had learned a lot from the Philippines.
Years passed and all of Southeast Asia was able to reap the benefits of this ingenious economic model. However, the trailblazer, the Philippines, was left behind. It's neighbors were puzzled as to how this could have happened. Based on studies by the association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Philippines simply stopped participating in major Bot-Ppp programs since then.
After much analysis, systemic corruption in all tiers of government was the cause. It was found out that public servants in every level gets a chunk of public funds that will be used for any project. For every dollar that was spent, sixty-seven cents went to the pockets of public officials.
However, this is not the case for Malaysia and Thailand, commonly speaking. With Bot-Ppp, they were able to develop to a point where they have left the Philippines, and even some European countries, behind by leaps and bounds.
Thus, Bot-Ppp success depends very on the sincerity of the government to supervene reform.
Case Study - Build operate transfer Projects, the Philippines, and Southeast AsiaFriends Link : todays world news headlines
