The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Myanmar have signed an agreement to boost the transport sector through public-private partnerships (PPP). The advisory services agreement ceremony was held in Nay Pyi Taw, hosted by Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Transport and Communications (MOTC) Win Khant. ADB’s Country Director for Myanmar, Thant Sin Maung, Minister of Transport and Communication and Ryuichi Kaga, Head of ADB’s Office of Public -Private Partnership were present at the signing ceremony.
According to the agreement, ADB will be serve as an adviser assisting the Myanmar government in such matters as drawing up plans, selecting contractors and procuring funds. The ADB’s new tasks will include drafting laws concerning public-private partnerships and designing frameworks for subsidies and other incentives. The bank will devise proposals for individual projects and let both domestic and foreign companies bid on them.
One of the main aims of ADB is to have more private companies involved in infrastructure work. Not only will this reduce the fiscal burden on the government, it will also provide private-sector corporations with business opportunities. The government will choose funding sources for the infrastructure projects. At the same time, ADB will take on the advising role separate from its core financing operation.
“The improvement of transport infrastructure is a top priority for the government, as this is critical to improve people’s access to markets as well as to basic services such as healthcare and education,” said Thant Sin Maung. “A number of our priority transport investments will deliver better results if undertaken in partnership with the private sector.”
“ADB has been playing a very active role in supporting Myanmar with policy advice on PPPs, and improving Myanmar’s transport infrastructure is critical to achieving inclusive growth in Myanmar,” said Kaga. “PPP is an important instrument to deliver infrastructure, and ADB is looking forward to assisting the government in developing priority transport projects that could be structured on a PPP basis to mobilise private capital flows.”
The Asian Development Bank was established in 1966. ADB is dedicated to reducing poverty in Asia and the Pacific through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth, and regional integration.
