There are established procedures in identifying and preparing a portfolio of potential PPP projects in many countries (such as in the Republic of Korea). The implementing agencies consider projects on the basis of such a portfolio. In the absence of such a portfolio, the project ideas may originate from existing plans or studies, or from political commitments of the government.
After developing a project, the concerned implementation agency in the government invites proposals from the private sector for its implementation through a procurement process. The proposals submitted by private parties in response to such a request are called solicited proposals. This Guidebook focuses on project development for solicited proposals.
Sometimes, private parties may also submit proposals without any request from the government. Such proposals are called unsolicited project proposals. The procedure for handling such projects are different and are briefly discussed in a separate section in Chapter 4.
A number of government departments and agencies may be directly or indirectly involved in the implementation of a PPP project. It is important to ensure their participation in the process from the very beginning. Valuable inputs may be received from them in developing a project. Previous experience of other agencies in PPP project implementation can also greatly help in structuring a viable project.
A PPP project may require approval and concurrence of a number of government agencies and regulatory bodies. They may include Ministries of Planning and Finance, the concerned sectoral Ministry, Department of Environment,
Board of Investment, Central Bank, etc. A project may also require various licences and permits from many agencies - for example, the concerned sector regulator and local government.
The project implementing agency needs to identify all such stakeholders in the government and start preliminary consultation with them concerning the project. A coordination mechanism with all such agencies could also be considered.
At this stage, it is equally important to identify stakeholders from outside the government, such as sector experts, local residents and various user groups, and interested and potential private providers of the project who could be consulted later on in the process. If there is no established mechanism for consultation with all the stakeholders, an appropriate mechanism needs to be considered at the outset.