Lower House continues deliberations over public-private partnership draft law

AMMAN — The Lower House on Tuesday continued its deliberations over the draft law concerning public-private sector partnership.

Prime Minister Omar Razzaz, during the session chaired by Lower House Speaker Atef Tarawneh, reiterated the importance of public-private sector partnership, highlighting that the state budget's projects depend on joint efforts from the two sides.

He added that the partnership will serve to address the old law's problems and ensure the distribution of responsibilities between the ministries of finance and planning. 

The prime minister also noted that the legislators will see a new local administration bill concerning decentralisation and transfer of authorities of governorate councils.

During the session, Finance Minister Mohamad Al-Ississ said that the JD180 million allocated for public-private sector partnerships covers the government's contribution to these projects and is part of the projects' total value, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Also commenting on the projects' funding, Minister of Planning Wissam Rabadi said that all cash assistance goes to the state budget, while a number of projects are funded directly by donors.  

He added that the mechanisms adopted in the Jordan Response Plan to the Syrian Crisis include direct support for refugees, the state budget and host communities.

The ministry has a database for all proposed projects, which are subject to consideration as possible public-private partnership projects. They may also be funded directly from the state budget or donors, Rabadi said.

Public-private partnership aims to obtain financing to implement government projects including building and revamping the Kingdom's infrastructure and public facilities, in addition to utilising the private sector's expertise in providing public services. 

The legislators approved the development of a new national record to include government ventures under the law. The draft law also forms a higher ministerial committee tasked with drawing up the general policies of the partnership projects along with choosing the projects and referring them to the Cabinet.

The draft law stipulates the formation of a special unit in the Prime Ministry to provide technical support to government bodies in identifying and prioritising the projects, along with preparing a proposal notice to be referred to the higher ministerial committee.