Public-private partnerships reach $35 bln

ISTANBUL - Anatolia News Agency

Mersin yacht marina, a build-operate-transfer projet, is seen in this file photograph.

The volume of public-private partnership (PPP) projects, which provide funding for Turkey’s major infrastructure projects, has reached $35 billion, according to Development Ministry data.

PPPs have been major financing method for implementing public service projects in many sectors including transport, health, energy and agriculture.

A set of laws that Turkey adopted throughout the 1980s and 1990s regulated and extended the usage of PPP projects. As direct public investments diminished, private involvement in public service provision extended on the development agenda of the country.

Since then, public sector authorities and private companies have cooperated on 137 projects worth $35 billion. The most commonly used PPP model is the build-operate-transfer method, which has been used for 83 projects so far.

The total value of PPP projects in operation is $26.04 billion. The economically largest partnerships are airport projects with $12.58 billion, followed by energy facility projects with $10.22 billion and port projects with $1.49 billion. Meanwhile, among the projects under construction, which are worth $9.34 billion, road projects lead with a value of $8 billion.