The move will allow both parties to shape ‘Next Level’ PPPs by looking at best international practices, fairness and transparency, use of technology, and even the role of non-profit NGOs.

Two major global bodies in the overlapping infrastructure and privatization spaces have formed a strategic partnership designed to strengthen the impact of their work by raising awareness among infrastructure investors and government institutions.

The World Association of PPP Units & Professionals (WAPPP) and the Long-Term Infrastructure Investors’ Association (LTIIA) have come together with a mission to achieve efficient and more encompassing deals in the future which increasingly need to incorporate Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in what is hoped will be a reviving market in 2022, at least for airport deals in the wake of the pandemic.

LTIIA’s executive director François Bergère said: “Our joint collaboration will allow us to promote and structure ‘Next Level’ public-private partnerships.” Next Level refers to the idea that PPPs have become more than just a public procurement tool, which was the classic approach, and more about the wider aspirations of most PPP practitioners – both public and private – who believe PPPs can be an engine of socio-economic development.

In a statement last year, WAPPP, said: “We do not regard PPP as a tool for public procurement, but rather as a tool for development. We consider it to be an integral part of SDG 17 and principal components of the ‘partnership’ pillar are people, planet, prosperity, and peace: the SDG quintet.

“Applying PPP in this way requires a shift of paradigm. In going beyond financing infrastructure projects, PPP also becomes a means of delivering social services, protecting the environment, and improving the standard of living and peace of mind of people everywhere.”

Raising Awareness on Both Sides of the Fence

On the new deal, WAPPP’s executive director Jean-Christophe Barth added: “We are delighted to form a cohesive partnership with LTIIA and we are looking forward to working with its dynamic team.”

Climate finance and PPP specialist in infrastructure at the World Bank Group, Jyoti Bisbey, said on social media: “As the global PPP network grows, these kinds of partnerships will be key in bringing investors to non-traditional markets and emerging economies projects. Looking forward to working together.”

WAPPP is a global non-governmental organization that assists its members in achieving their professional goals and promotes best practices as well as the sharing of knowledge and expertise on PPPs among its members. The LTIIA is a not-for-profit international professional association of institutional investors and fund managers with responsibilities over long-term and open-ended infrastructure investment mandates.

Their combined resources will be used to raise awareness among long-term infrastructure investors of investment opportunities in emerging markets, and further, to raise awareness among government institutions in these emerging markets of the investment needs, interests, and requirements of infrastructure investors. The associations will also organize joint events and make contributions to each other’s publications to include case studies, PPP review papers and other publications related to social, physical, and climate resilient infrastructure and the role of PPPs.