Several Nations Commited To Sharing Info On Public-Private Partnership - M'sian Chief Secretary

By Norshazlina Nor'azman PUTRAJAYA (Malaysia), Oct 21 (Bernama) -- Malaysia is ready to contribute ideas and experiences on its Public-Private Partnership's success with Commonwealth member countries, besides introducing reforms based on shared experiences with more advanced countries. Chief Secretary to the Government Dr Ali Hamsa said several countries like Canada, Australia and New Zealand had said they would be with Malaysia in sharing the success of their PPP with other Commonwealth nations. The newly-elected Commonwealth Association for Public Administration and Management (CAPAM) president said nations like Kenya and Ghana were interested in learning from Malaysia and getting expert help in the PPP, especially in infrastructure. "Malaysia has more than 30 years' experience in managing joint efforts between the public and private sectors, and we will introduce several transformation concepts used in Malaysia. Especially now, when there is a demand from CAPAM members for Malaysia's PPP. "They need Malaysian expertise to tackle strategic issues in their countries...at the same time, countries like Canada, Australia and New Zealand also want to be involved in knowledge-sharing about the PPP," he said in an exclusive interview at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC) Monday. Ali said many countries were facing slow development, especially in the implementation of infrastructure, and badly needed initiatives including reducing public spending through the PPP. "There are some ways...it's not easy to just straight away adopt another country's model, but they have to look at their own local situation, in terms of their economic capacity, capability and also the response. "It must be a win-win situation, the government doesn't take all the losses because basically, we are sharing the risks but of course, private sector will get more benefits," he said. Ali said at the same time, Malaysia was using the opportunity to improve the PPP system by studying the modules used in Canada, Australia and New Zealand. "They may be some things which we can use and study before they are adopted in Malaysia," he said. He said the Commonwealth nations were optimistic about improving the PPP in their own countries and for a start, Malaysia had set up an Excellence Centre where CAPAM or any Commonwealth nation could set up joint ventures connected to the PPP. Ali, who earlier chaired the first meeting of the new CAPAM Board of Directors, said the body was determined to bring about positive changes and improvements during the 2014-2016 term. "In the inter-disciplinary meeting which we stressed included increasing networking to publicise CAPAM, the board members would be the heads of civil service in their own countries and when they meet people outside their countries, they would act as CAPAM ambassadors," he added. Ali said the meeting also discussed the demand by several agencies for joint efforts with CAPAM, including by the World Bank as well as the United Nations Development Programme, in the organisation of various programmes. The three-day CAPAM 2014, themed 'Public Service Transformation: A New Conversation', is organised in collaboration with the Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit and the Commonwealth Secretariat. It ends Tuesday. --BERNAMA