The virtual summit will discuss opportunities for public-private partnership frameworks for infrastructure projects in the MENA region
Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 1 October 2020 – MEED-GlobalData has announced a one-day virtual summit entitled MENA PPP Virtual Think Tank on Tuesday, October 13, which will bring together industry experts from the public and private sector to discuss public-private partnership frameworks and their growing importance in the region.
The MENA PPP Virtual Think Tank will feature thought leaders from key local, regional and international organizations. Speakers from Ministry of Finance (Egypt), Abu Dhabi Investment Office (UAE), National Centre for Privatization (Saudi Arabia), Samsung Engineering and more will engage in detailed discussions on the PPP landscape and opportunities outlook.
The virtual summit will conclude with three separate breakout sessions, in which thought leaders will provide sector specific insights on social, transport, and power and water infrastructures. The panel of experts will discuss how the pandemic has changed the appetite for PPP in the region, what the current PPP project landscape looks like, and how PPP contracts help extract value from assets.
The continued drop in oil prices in the GCC region, exasperated by the current global pandemic have undoubtedly placed a greater strain on public spending into infrastructure projects and public assets, accelerating the need for economies to assess newer methods of approaching project finance. PPP contracts are notably gaining traction in the region. Abu Dhabi, for example, plans to introduce $2.7bn-worth of infrastructure projects through PPP, while Saudi Arabia and Oman are placing a growing focus on PPP projects to finance social infrastructure projects.
“Now is the time for public private partnerships (PPP) to make an impact in the regions,” says MEED editorial director Richard Thompson. “The need to innovative and to find more efficient ways to design, build, finance and operate national infrastructure and public services is greater than ever before. And the fiscal pressure from lower oil prices and Covid-19 stimulus spending is removing some of the barriers to PPP that have existed.”
The MENA PPP Virtual Think Tank is supported by Strategic Partners DLA Piper Middle East LLP and Allen & Overy LLP, and will take place on Tuesday, October 13 from 10:00AM to 3:00PM GST, and pre-registration is required here.
A comprehensive review of the Middle East’s growing PPP market and the outlook for PPP projects after the impact of Covid-19 is available here.
About MEED
MEED is a senior management media brand, its flagship subscription products are the MEED Business Review publication and website, www.meed.com. As well as organising the MEED Projects Awards, Gulf Capital SME Awards, Daman Corporate Health Awards and the Arabian Hotel Investment Conference (AHIC).
MEED also has two high-value
content businesses, MEED Projects
and MEED Premium Insight
Reports. MEED Projects is the Middle East’s premium project tracking
database and MEED Premium
Insight Reports offer tailored research and in-depth analysis. Established in
1957, MEED, has been integral
to delivering business information and news, intelligence and analysis on the
Middle East economies and activities ever since.
MEED celebrated its 60th
birthday in 2017. From small beginnings in a London flat on 8 March
1957, MEED has grown with
the region, to become the Middle East’s most-trusted source of business
information.