A $7.5 million loan to strengthen the Public-Private Alliance (APP) program was approved on September 29 by the Executive Board of the World Bank (WB).
The loan, which will be allocated to the “Project of support for the development of the APP program for recovery in Panama,” is a final maturity period of 10 years and includes a grace period of 4.5 years, the WB reported in a statement.
The funding granted is to invest in technical assistance to strengthen Panama’s institutional capacity to mobilize private capital for the financing and management of infrastructure services.
The director of the World Bank for Central America and the Dominican Republic, Michel Kerf, said that international experience shows that the establishment of public-private partnerships aimed at the construction, improvement and conservation of infrastructure generates broad economic benefits for countries and their populations.
This Project will expand our support for the country’s APP agenda in pursuit of inclusive and sustainable growth,” Kerf said.
The Minister of Economy and Finance of Panama, Héctor Alexander, for his part, stressed that the government of Panama seeks to accelerate the mobilization of private capital to finance infrastructure development and that the support of the World Bank will continue to be crucial to strengthen the country’s
These important investments will help us recover from the recent crisis, limit the fiscal impact on our budget and contribute to improving the quality of the provision of public infrastructure services to the population,” Alexander said.
According to the BM spokesman, the project aims to strengthen the planning and management capacity of APP within the Ministry of Public Works (MOP) and other agencies involved in the issue.
Through the project, consulting services and the provision of minor goods and works will be financed to: strengthen the planning capacity of the MOP and other agencies to identify and prioritize PPPs, in line with international best practices.
As well as develop the implementation capacity of the MOP and other agencies for the execution of an APP program, through the development of operational policies for the preparation, implementation and
of a fund for the preparation of APP projects and the promotion of greater local, regional and international private participation in the APP program.