With the "One Belt One Road" initiative (abbreviated OBOR), the People's Republic of China has developed a unique geopolitical cooperation model. It is intended not only to bring continents together economically, but also to facilitate a joint exchange of innovation strategies and ideas.
We are convinced that the time has come to think about new forms of cross-country cooperation.
Since 2015 we have been successfully advising organisations and companies that want to become or have already become part of this cooperation on the opportunities and risks of participation.
Public-private partnership (PPP) is a long-term contract between a government entity and a private party for the provision of public services and/or the development of public infrastructure, in which responsibility and profit are shared. Common types of PPPs include concessions, Build-Operate-Transfers (BOT), Design-Build-Finance-Operate (DBFO).
Governments around the world are increasingly turning to the private sector to provide infrastructure services that were once provided by the public sector. The World Bank estimated the investment commitments for private infrastructure projects to be USD 111.6 billion in 2015.
In China, PPP has been identified as an effective mechanism for improving the efficiency and quality of public infrastructure projects and is being implemented as a major reform of local governments' public finance and government policies (budgeting). By the end of June 2016, the Ministry of Finance has approved 232 pilot PPP projects with a total investment volume of RMB 802.54 billion, while the total number of registered PPP projects in local governments has reached 9,285 with an investment volume of RMB 10.6 trillion. Among these investments, the share of private capital has reached 40%.
What is the relationship between PPPs and the One-Belt-One-Road (OBOR) initiative?
The Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road (OBOR) is a development strategy and framework initiated by the Chinese government, focusing on improving connectivity and cooperation between the more than 60 countries along the water and land routes. Under this objective, investments in infrastructure such as cross-border railways and ports are at the heart of the OBOR initiative, and PPPs are becoming a natural choice for these infrastructure projects. Therefore, a deeper understanding of PPP is crucial for the success of OBOR projects and the initiative.
Together with our partners from politics and science, we offer a 9-day intensive program for all interested parties from politics and business to understand and directly apply PPP and the New Silk Road.
Why do we offer this program?
For many, the "One Belt one Road Initiative" is a black box. For some even a threat. This is where concrete facts, direct dialogue with the actors and a deeper understanding of the interlocking of OBOR and PPP can help. To fully exploit this potential, a holistic, systematic approach is needed.
The Masterclass serves to provide a framework to answer the above questions and, in particular, to develop a better understanding of the PPP mechanism and to discuss how effective PPPs can be designed and implemented from both a theoretical and empirical perspective.
To ensure that all this does not remain a grey theory, all modules are divided into three parts: Theory, best practice (demo) and application.
