In 2014, the Korea Development Institute surveyed the quality of 16 build-transfer-operate (BTO) infrastructure projects, involving 57 respondents from ministries, government agencies, and operators (KDI 2014).1 Respondents rated the quality of these projects as being higher than similar government-funded projects, with PPPs scoring on governance, facility maintenance, and the early delivery of facilities, particularly for road and rail projects (Table 8.1). Creativeness and efficiency got the most positive responses, except for port construction. On the downside, 71% of respondents said service fees were too high for private finance initiative projects.
Table 8.1: Korea Development Institute 2014 Survey
on Build-Transfer-Operate Projects
(% of respondents)
| Sector | Prefer Public Project | No Preference | Prefer PPP Project |
| Environment | 16.7 | 66.7 | 16.7 |
| Road | 0.0 | 50.0 | 50.0 |
| Rail | 0.0 | 87.5 | 12.5 |
| Harbor | 0.0 | 100.0 | 0.0 |
| Total | 7.1 | 75.0 | 17.9 |
PPP = public-private partnership.
Source: Korea Development Institute. 2014. Comprehensive Evaluation on Public-Private Partnership Projects in Korea. Sejong.
A Korea Development Institute survey on 429 build-transfer-lease (BTL) infrastructure projects polled 54 government officials involved in these projects and operators, and 600 users of the finished infrastructure (KDI 2014). Respondents were asked whether they preferred PPPs to government-funded BTL projects. Most respondents said projects were built quicker using PPPs and that the expected benefits were achieved, especially for sewerage systems. Respondents also recognized the contribution of the creativeness and efficiency of the private partners. In the user survey, PPP project facilities were seen as better than government-funded ones (Table 8.2). Fifty-one percent of respondents were satisfied with the level of fees for using BTLs, and this rose to 70.7% for cultural and tourism facilities in certain areas. Most PPP facilities were evaluated as superior to government-funded facilities, with PPPs for military housing, cultural and tourism facilities, and schools scoring particularly highly. Noticeable features of PPP projects were a diversity of facilities and well-constructed interiors.
Table 8.2: Comparison Result on Characteristics of Build-Transfer-Lease Projects
| Criteria | Observations | Average | Standard Deviation |
| Appearance | 598 | 2.159 | 1.182 |
| Convenience | 598 | 2.331 | 1.127 |
| Diversity of facilities | 597 | 2.437 | 1.136 |
| Function | 595 | 2.385 | 1.094 |
| Environment | 597 | 2.588 | 1.136 |
| Sanitary | 596 | 2.455 | 1.149 |
| Security | 596 | 2.622 | 1.133 |
Note: Average response to a six-point scale survey.
Source: Korea Development Institute. 2014. Comprehensive Evaluation on Public-Private Partnership Projects in Korea. Sejong.
In the survey of government officials and operators, respondents said infrastructure BTL projects using the PPP modality saved on construction time and achieved their targeted benefits. On the downside, respondents felt the Ministry of Economic and Finance should improve its knowledge of laws applying to PPPs (31.5% of respondents), and that operators needed to forge strong partnerships with the ministry, which oversees BTL projects (37.0%). In sum, both surveys show that user satisfaction was greater for PPPs than government-funded infrastructure. But the results differed for type of facility. Overall, however, the results indicate that BTO and BTL infrastructure done through PPPs deliver higher-quality services.