Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar - August 18,2014: The Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA) held a Public Private Partnership (PPP) Technical Workshop at Hotel Amara, Nay Pyi Taw on August 11,2014 jointly with the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development (MNPED) of Myanmar.

The Workshop is the first in a series of ERIA PPP Technical Workshops to be held in Myanmar, Lao PDR, and Cambodia wherein international leading experts as well as government officials, representatives from the private sector and members of the academia in each of the abovementioned countries share knowledge and views on how to develop a PPP framework using an ongoing draft of the ASEAN PPP Set of Guidelines developed by ERIA. Presentations from the distinguished speakers will be the basis of the open discussions that will ensue afterwards.

This first Workshop in Myanmar was participated in by around 70 invitees from concerned ministries, private sector representatives, and members of academia from and outside Myanmar. H.E. Dr. San Lwin, Deputy Minister of Myanmar's MNPED, opened the event where he expressed his and the government of Myanmar's gratitude to ERIA for organizing this important and timely workshop which will support the development of a PPP framework and the successful implementation of the economic reform in Myanmar.

The one-day programme was structured in a way that the morning session provides the audience with a fundamental understanding of PPP together with sectorial issues in Myanmar, and the afternoon panel session discusses how to refine the draft of the PPP Guidelines taking the situation of Myanmar into account.

International speakers in the morning session include: Dr. Michael Regan, Professor of Bond University, Australia; Dr. Ibnu Syabri, Associate Professor of Bandung Institute of Technology, Indonesia; Mr. Eleazar Ricote, Director of the PPP Center of the Philippines; Mr. Nik Nasir Majid, Independent Consultant of Malaysia; and Mr. Adil Zaidi, Director, Infrastructure & PPP, Ernst & Young LLP. MNPED also invited presenters from: Ministry of Transport; Ministry of Electric Power; Ministry of Rail Transportation; and Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI).

The panel discussion in the afternoon was guided by Dr. Fauziah Zen, Economist of ERIA. While introducing the draft of the PPP Guidelines, she mentioned that "we are trying to make the PPP Guidelines as the product of ASEAN Member States, and we are here to communicate with both public and private sectors to obtain inputs to the Guidelines". In addition to the speakers in the presentation session, discussants from the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Construction participated in the active discussion and exchanged views on topics such as the necessity of having a champion institution for PPP, effective incentive mechanisms for private partners, and the definition of PPP in the Myanmar context itself.

In his closing remarks, Mr. Yasushi Iwata, General Manager of ERIA, expressed his hope that this workshop will become the kickoff for Myanmar to develop its own scheme of PPP in the near future. Recommendations and comments from the workshop discussions will be incorporated in the draft of the PPP Guidelines for the latter's further improvement. The second and third workshops under the ERIA PPP Technical Workshop Series will be held in Lao PDR and Cambodia on August 19 and 21,2014, respectively.

To Please click the following link to get the agenda of the event:

PPP Workshop Agenda