By Jawad Ahmed ISLAMABAD, March 30 (INP-WealthPK): Pakistan has seen a rise in private sector engagement in developing infrastructure in recent years. According to a World Bank estimate, Pakistan requires about $15 to $20 billion per annum for its infrastructure development, and this objective can only be achieved with the help of private sector. The government's finances are already squeezed owing to rising debt servicing costs and budget deficits, so it seeks private sector participation to bring in investment. Engaging the private sector in the implementation of government projects is a hot topic all over the world, according to Saba Siraj, a spokesperson for Public Private Partnership Authority (P3A). Talking to WealthPK, she said the government had made changes to the Public Private Partnership Authority Act, 2017, in 2020 and 2021 to create an enabling environment for public private partnership by streamlining the project approval process and providing an effective framework for policy guidelines. “We are continually working with the private parties to push the government’s development agenda through mobilising private sector capital,” she said. Saba Siraj told WealthPK that in addition to the government providing sovereign guarantees or viability gap funds to the qualified projects, P3A was also at the forefront of supporting the implementing authorities to seek private sector participation for unqualified Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects without obtaining P3A’s approval. She also stated that the P3A had completed the essential appraisal processes for various PPP projects worth over Rs525 billion and had submitted them to the Public Private Partnership Working Party (P3WP) and the P3A Board for their consideration and approval. “The P3A is currently working on various mega projects to be launched in the National Highways Authority and Pakistan Railways under the PPP mechanism,” Saba Siraj said. “The PPP model is still emerging in Pakistan; it will take time to mature, but it will eventually deliver. It will ease fiscal pressures on the government, minimise life cycle costs, guarantee adequate regulatory supervision, and offer the legal and economic framework for development activities.” It is to mention here that Pakistan did not have PPP legislation framework at the federal level until March 2017, when the Parliament enacted the Public Private Partnership Authority Act, 2017. Prior to the Act, the Pakistan Policy on Public Private Partnerships of 2010 was in place. Under the 2010 PPP Policy, the Infrastructure Project Development Facility (IPDF) was established as a legislative agency. Its objective was to organise and support the establishment of public-private partnerships in the country. Following the passage of the Federal PPP Act in 2017 and further amendments made in laws in 2020 and 2021, the P3A took that responsibility from the IPDF in order to accelerate the implementation of PPPs in federal territory. The provincial governments have also been empowered to design and administer their own PPP rules and regulations in order to approve, reject, or return PPP project proposals presented by the government agencies for review.