In the context of public sector procurement practices, Disclosure refers to the type, amount and timing of information related to procurement decisions that is to be made available to each party to the agreement. All material information or documents, whose non-disclosure would have a material adverse effect, should be disclosed. Unless the public entity is satisfied that the larger public interest warrants the non-disclosure of any information, such information would be disclosed. However, information which would harm the competitive position of the bidders/preferred bidder/private partner could be exempted from disclosure.
PPP arrangements involve stakeholders including the public entity, the private partner, the public at large, lenders, policy makers, etc. All these stakeholders have different interests to protect. For instance, the public entity will be particular about the public good arising out the project whereas the private partner will be interested in the revenues generated by the project. Sometimes, certain information about the project cannot be disclosed owing to legal/regulatory restrictions. In other cases, such information could be marked as 'confidential' where its disclosure is restricted under the agreement.