PPP policy is "far advanced" - minister

Work on the establishment of a framework for a public/private partnership (PPP) policy in Jamaica is "far advanced," the country's finance and planning minister, Peter Phillips, was quoted as saying by government website JIS. Areas being targeted for PPPs include infrastructure projects, such as port facilities, schools, transportation, and hospitals. According to the minister, given the "limited fiscal space" which the country currently faces, leveraging limited resources through targeted PPPs and through "judicious privatization" of state assets is an "important strategy" for the administration over the medium term. "Members of the local private sector have already expressed serious interest in participating in the government's PPP program. We have already received attractive proposals for the funding of PPP projects in the private sector. We welcome this interest and we will be responding and pursuing these projects with some urgency," Phillips added.