Public/private partnership

Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) offer alternatives to traditional state-owned and operated utilities in different degrees of private-sector participation in the management and operation of utilities. There are four degrees of public-private partnerships: 1) Management agreements, in which only the operation and maintenance of services are contracted out to a private company; 2) Lease agreements, given to a private company to operate and maintain a State-owned asset; 3) concession agreements, that allow a private operator to be responsible for developing or rehabilitating and operating a State-owned asset, such as a build-operate-transfer (BOT) or rehabilitate-operate-transfer (ROT) schemes; and 4) privatization, where State-owned assets are owned and managed solely by the private operation. While PPP’s are essential to secure foreign investments for resource financing and water utility reform, too much privatization can make the cost of water prohibitive and inaccessible to the majority of the population in developing nations.

Case Studies

Better management brings Indonesians more water Jakarta, Indonesia | January 31, 2001 Indonesia’s aquifers echo with the sound of grinding gears, but not the pounding of water. Meanwhile, demand for the life source — to drink, to irrigate, to sanitize — is only rising. Learn more

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