Identifying PPP Projects

The first step towards a successful PPP is identifying a potential PPP project. Since a PPP is a public investment, most successful PPP projects originate from the broader public investment planning process as described in PPP Process. During this process, priority public investment projects can be screened for their potential to achieve better value for money if implemented as PPPs. Several governments have established tools and checklists to support this screening. The online toolkit for PPPs in India (IN) provides a good overview of the PPP project screening process.

As shown in Identifying PPP Projects, the output of the project identification stage is typically an initial concept and the strategic or outline business case for pursuing the project as a PPP. In many countries, the concept must be formally approved before developing the PPP further.

Identifying PPP Projects

Subsections

1. Identifying Priority Public Investment Projects
2. Screening for PPP Potential
3. Building an Initial PPP Pipeline

Key References

Identifying Candidate Projects

• IN. Accessed March 15, 2017. "PPP Toolkit for Improving PPP Decision-Making Processes." Public-Private Partnerships in India. New Delhi: Government of India, Ministry of Finance. Module 2: “Work through the PPP Process, Phase 1: Identification” provides extensive guidance on identifying PPP projects.
• CO. 2014. Manual de Procesos y Procedimientos para la Ejecución de Proyectos de Asociación Público-Privada. Bogotá: Gobierno de Colombia, Ministerio de Hacienda y Crédito Público. The Process and Procedures Manual for PPP Projects describes (on pages 34–38) the information that an implementing agency must include in its initial report to the PPP Unit requesting that a project be implemented as a PPP.
• ZA. 2004a. Public Private Partnership Manual. Pretoria: South African Government, National Treasury. Module 4: “PPP Feasibility Study” describes needs analysis and options analysis as the first two stages of carrying out a feasibility study to “decide whether traditional public procurement of a PPP is the best choice for the proposed project.”
• IN. 2013a. Scheme and Guidelines for Financial Support to Public Private Partnerships in Infrastructure. New Delhi: Government of India, Ministry of Finance. Describes the rationale for establishing the IIPDF to overcome barriers to PPP project identification, and the structure and operational arrangements for the fund.
• PE. 2010. Pautas para la Identificación, formulación y evaluación social de proyectos de inversión pública a nivel de perfil. Lima: Ministerio de Economia y Finanzas. Module 2: “Identification” within the Guidelines for the Identification, Formulation, and Social Evaluation of Public Investment Projects outlines the gap analysis approach to identifying investment needs and projects.
• ADB. 2008. Public-Private Partnership Handbook. Manila: Asian Development Bank. Chapter 3: “Structuring a PPP: Sector Diagnostic and Sector Road Map” sets out how identifying possible PPPs can be part of an overall strategic review of a sector.
• HK. 2008. An Introductory Guide to Public Private Partnerships. Hong Kong, China: Efficiency Unit. The first section of Chapter 4: “Making the Business Case” sets out the criteria that a project should meet to have a prima facie case for being implemented as a PPP.
• Farquharson, Edward, Clemencia Torres de Mästle, E. R. Yescombe, and Javier Encinas. 2011. How to Engage with the Private Sector in Public-Private Partnerships in Emerging Markets. Washington, DC: World Bank. The section on developing a PPP Investment Framework on pages 21–23 describes the importance of building a PPP project pipeline, together with clear public sector investment plans.
• Caribbean. 2017. Caribbean PPP Toolkit. Washington, DC: World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank and Caribbean Development Bank. Discusses methodology for PPP project pipeline identification as well as typical issues that arise during this process.

Visit the PPP Online Reference Guide section to find out more.