Public-Private Partnerships Laws / Concession Laws

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As discussed in Legislative Assessment, a government may decide to enact a PPP law or a concession law for a number of reasons, such as to give priority to a process of developing, procuring and reviewing PPP projects that will take priority over sector laws, or to establish a clear institutional framework for developing, procuring and implementing PPPs. PPP laws can also be used to close gaps in the laws of a host country may need to allow for successful infrastructure PPP projects, such as enabling the grant of step-in rights to lenders and requiring open and fair procurement processes. These modifications may be embodied in sector-specific law, or in the case of procurement, a procurement or competition law, or the can be included in a general concession or PPP law. This site includes links to guidance on drafting PPP/ Concession laws and sample enacted PPP laws.
While guidance and examples can be useful, each PPP/ concession law needs careful drafting to be consistent with the host country's existing laws. Legal draftsmen need to strike a balance between setting ground rules that encourage transparency and imposing general restrictions that may hinder bidding teams from achieving value for money or sensible solutions when bidding out PPP projects.
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International Guidelines
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Infrascope Latin America (2014) - information tool and benchmarking index that evaluates government capacity to implement sustainable and efficient infrastructure public-private partnerships
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Infrascope Africa (2015)- informational tool and benchmarking index that evaluates government capacity to implement sustainable and efficient infrastructure public-private partnerships
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Examples of Public Private Partnership (PPP) Laws by Country and PPP Legal Framework Snapshots
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Further Reading and Resources, see below
International Guidelines
UNCITRAL Guidance on PPP/ Concession Laws
The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) has published a Legislative Guide on Privately Funded Infrastructure Projects in 2000. The purpose of the Guide is to assist in the establishment of a legal framework favorable to private investment in public infrastructure. The advice provided in the Guide aims at achieving a balance between the desire to facilitate and encourage private participation in infrastructure projects, on the one hand, and various public interest concerns of the host country, on the other. The Guide sets out suggested legislative language in its Model Legislative Provisions on Privately Financed Infrastructure Projects of 2003.
EBRD Core Principles for a Modern Concession Law
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) defined a set of core principles for a modern concession law as legislative guidelines (English French and Russian). The Legal Transition Group of the EBRD prepared the paper EBRD Core Principles for a Modern Concessions Law - selection and justification of principles which explains each of the principles.
OECD Principles for Public Governance of Public-Private Partnerships
OECD Principles for Public Governance of Public-Private Partnerships provide concrete guidance to policy makers on how to make sure that Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) represent value for money for the public sector.
Examples of PPP Laws
Set out below are links to examples of PPP/Concession Laws enacted in various countries. Attached for information are also some links to commentaries prepared by third parties as well as summaries. The inclusion of these publications does not mean that they or their authors are in any way approved or endorsed by the World Bank, the PPPLRC or by the donors who support the website.
To view and download the summaries, go to PPP Legal Framework Snapshots.
Angola Benin Botswana Burkina Faso Burundi Cabo Verde Cameroon Central African Republic Chad Comoros Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Côte d'Ivoire Djibouti Eritrea Currently no PPP-specific legal framework on record Eswatini Ethiopia Gabon Gambia Ghana Guinea Guinea-Bissau Kenya Lesotho Liberia Madagascar Malawi Mali Mauritania Mauritius Mozambique Namibia Niger Nigeria Rwanda Sao Tome and Principe Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone Somalia South Africa South Sudan Currently no PPP-specific legal framework on record Sudan Tanzania Togo Uganda Zambia Zimbabwe Algeria Egypt Iran Iraq Israel Jordan Kuwait Lebanon Morocco Oman Saudi Arabia Syria Tunisia United Arab Emirates Yemen Currently no PPP-specific legal framework on record Australia Cambodia China Fiji Indonesia Japan Kiribati Lao PDR Malaysia Mongolia Myanmar New Zealand Papua New Guinea Philippines Republic of Korea Samoa Singapore Thailand Timor-Leste Tonga Vanuatu Vietnam Afghanistan Bangladesh Bhutan India Maldives Nepal Pakistan Sri Lanka Albania Armenia Azerbaijan Belarus Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Czech Republic Denmark Estonia France Georgia Germany Greece Hungary Italy Kazakhstan Kosovo Kyrgyz Republic Latvia Lithuania Malta Montenegro Netherlands Poland Portugal Republic of Ireland Republic of Macedonia Republic of Moldova Romania Russia Serbia Slovak Republic Slovenia Spain Tajikistan Turkey Turkmenistan Ukraine United Kingdom Uzbekistan Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Belize Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia Costa Rica Dominica Currently no PPP-specific legal framework on record Dominican Republic Ecuador El Salvador Grenada Guatemala Guyana Haiti Honduras Jamaica Mexico Nicaragua Panama Paraguay Peru Puerto Rico Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Currently no PPP-specific legal framework on record Suriname Currently no PPP-specific legal framework on record Trinidad and Tobago Uruguay Venezuela Canada United States of America Establishing and Reforming PPP Units - Analysis of EPEC Member PPP Units and lessons learnt, European Expertise Centre (EPEC), August 2014. Overview of the PPP Legal and Institutional Frameworks in the Western Balkans, European PPP Expertise Centre (EPEC), July 2014. Serbia - PPP Units and Related Institutional Framework, European PPP Expertise Centre (EPEC), June 2014. PPP Units and Programmes in Asia and the Pacific, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP), April 2014. This publication presents a list of PPP Units and Task Forces active in the Asia-Pacific region. Portugal - PPP Units and Related Institutional Framework, European PPP Expertise Centre (EPEC), January 2014. United Kingdom/England - PPP Units and Related Institutional Framework, European PPP Expertise Centre (EPEC), June 2012. France - PPP Units and Related Institutional Framework, European PPP Expertise Centre (EPEC), May 2012. Moving Forward on Public Private Partnerships: U.S. and International Experience with PPP Units, by Emilia Istrate and Robert Puentes, Brookings Institution, December 2011. Dedicated Public-Private Partnership Units: A Survey of Institutional and Governance Structures (Les Unités Consacrées aux Partenariats Public-Privé: Une Étude des Structures Institutionnelles et de Gouvernance), Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) 2010 (English and French). Designing and Using Public-Private Partnership Units in Infrastructure - Lessons from Case Studies around the World by Apurva Sanghi, Alex Sundakov, and Denzel Hankinson, Gridlines No. 27, Public-Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (PPIAF) September 2007. Public-Private Partnership Units - What Are They and What Do They Do? Public Policy for the Private Sector Note 311, World Bank, September 2006.Sub-Saharan Africa
Middle East and North Africa
East Asia and the Pacific
South Asia
Europe and Central Asia
Latin America and the Caribbean
North America
Further Reading and Resources
The inclusion of or reference to any materials on this website does not mean that they are in any way approved, endorsed or recommended by the World Bank, the PPPLRC or by the donors who support the website. The PPPLRC accepts no responsibility or liability whatsoever with regard to the materials on this website. The materials are:
- not necessarily comprehensive, complete, accurate or up to date;
- sometimes linked to external sites over which the PPPLRC has no control and for which the PPPLRC assumes no responsibility;
- reference materials for information ONLY. They should not be relied on as a substitute for specific legal advice (if you need specific legal advice, you should always consult a suitably qualified professional).
The goal of the PPPLRC is to keep the information on this website timely and accurate. If errors are brought to our attention, we will try to correct them. Please contact us at ppp@worldbank.org.
Updated: December 20, 2022
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