Public-private alliance needed for poverty alleviation, says ADB

Public-private partnerships have an important role in providing better services to the poor through infrastructure development, according to Asian Development Bank (ADB) vice president Myoung-Ho Shin in a conference recently.

"The fight for poverty reduction is not only the business of governments and multilateral development institutions," Shin said. "The private sector has a serious part to play," he added.

"The fact is, the resources required to improve and maintain infrastructure are enormous," he said during the ADB/Public Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (PPIAF) Conference on Infrastructure Development-Private Solutions for the Poor: The Asian Perspective held at the ADB Headquarters in Manila.

The ADB vice president said that many governments are re-assessing their role in the provision of basic services. Government see themselves more of facilitators and regulators rather than as providers.

"ADB would like to see them provide an enabling environment of law and regulation, and a stable political and economic system that will attract private entities in investing."

PPIAF is a multi-donor technical assistance facility helping developing countries to improve their infrastructure through private sector involvement.

Traditional approaches to infrastructure have failed to deliver on promises, according to Russell Muir, PPIAF program manager. "And they have failed the poor above all," he said.