Caputo said that the Public-Private Partnership Plan will increase infrastructure investment
During the event led by the Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers, Marcos Peña, businessmen and investors presented 60 infrastructure projects for USD 26 billion for the next three years and a half.
The Minister of Finance, Luis Caputo, gave a speech this morning within the context of the launching of the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Plan, a tool that will enable the efficient execution of infrastructure projects.
Representing the Ministry of Finance, the Chief of Cabinet, Pablo Quirno, and the Undersecretary of Public-Private Partnership, Jose Luis Morea, also spoke at the event.
Caputo said: “Currently, we have 60 PPP projects for a total amount of approximately USD 26 billion for the next three years and a half, which will allow us to increase infrastructure 60% more in 2018 as compared with this year”.
In addition, the Finance Minister explained to businessmen and investors: “We have inherited a huge deficit in infrastructure and very little investment in the last years”. This type of partnership strategy will enable “to attract private investment to increase infrastructure investment, meeting our fiscal targets”.
“We are new in this PPP scheme, but it has worked in different countries of the region, such as Chile and Peru. This allowed us to learn from successful experiences”, Caputo added. He explained that “the infrastructure projects developed under the PPP modality are long-term agreements entered into by and between a company and the Government for the provision of public assets or services owned by the Government”.
Mr. Minister said that the advantage of PPP projects is that “they enable a more efficient risk management of the private and public sectors”. Thus, the investor of the project “has the necessary incentive to design a quality work and finish it in time and manner because as he complies with the deadlines, he recovers the investment”, Caputo added.
Finally, Mr. Minister invited businessmen to invest and trust in this long-term process.
Within the projects we can mention the construction of 2,800 km of freeways and 4,000 km of safe roads in the Provinces of Buenos Aires, La Pampa, Santa Fe, Cordoba, Mendoza, Santiago del Estero, Tucuman, Salta, Jujuy, Misiones, Corrientes and Chaco; the improvement of existing tracks and construction of 685 km of railway tracks; the replacement of public lighting system; the construction and/or improvement of penitentiary centers and hospitals; water, sanitation and housing works, such as aqueducts, sewers, sewage treatment plants and housing solutions.
Any company or individual interested in these PPP projects can find more information at the website of the Secretariat of Public-Private Partnership of the Ministry of Finance:
https://www.minfinanzas.gob.ar/uppp/