Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Units and the Urgency for Public Infrastructure Provision : Korea\u27s Experience

The public infrastructure provision is not provided solely by the public sector, it also involves the private sector. A business relationship between a private-sector company and a government agency for the purpose of providing public infrastructure is typically referred to as a Public-Private Partnership (PPP). In the global arena, the private sector’s contribution to a PPP program has increased signficantly, although the PPP concept is still developing and has some issues that still must be addressed. Major issues of a PPP consist of, but are not limited to, the capacity of both parties, legal and institutional arrangements, and financial-administrative implementation. There is an urgent need for PPP units to be designed in order to address government failures. In addition, the PPP program must be supervised. The PPP Unit in Korea, referred to as the Public and Private Infrastructure Investment Management Center (PIMAC), has led to improvement of the PPP program and contributed to national economic growth