An urgent need for Gorvenments around the world: Capacity-building to design, negotiate and implement Private-Public Partnerships

As the world is facing enormous financial challenges, it has become clear that most large projects can only be implemented through joint sector partnerships, commonly referred to as PPPs (Private-Public Partnerships); even when projects are not classified as PPPs, often they are joint sector initiatives. For example, exploration for natural resources and concessions in general are joint sector activities. However, there is a problem: in most cases, the public sector is not prepared to play the role of the equal partner. Lack of expertise or (even worse) lack of understanding and appreciation for the expertise needed puts the public sector at a serious disadvantage and results in a deal which favors (unfairly) the private partner. A similar result is reached when corruption is involved, which is common in many countries.


One-sided PPPs are not sustainable, as it is a matter of time for their biases to become known to the public, a public which becomes more an more active against incompetent governments and unfair situations. An effort is needed worldwide to strengthen the capacity of public organizations to design, negotiate and implement PPPs, which are fair for both sides and protect the interests of the public. Such capacity is essential in Governments of countries, as well as local governments. Similar expertise is needed in Topeka (Kansas, USA), Athens (Greece) and Rangoon (Myanmar).

Holograms to reduce energy use substantially

I read that Forever 21's Hologram Fashion Show Comes to the U.S. This is a show which replaced live models with holograms. It was first presented in Vienna (Austria) in May and then in Brussels and London. Think about the energy which can be saved if 20-30% of the business trips around the world are replaced with holograms. Meeting my Chinese business colleagues could be done initially in a conference room which makes us all feel that we are in this same room, independently if some of the participants are being represented by their holograms. In the future, the technology could be improved and the same could done in the personal computer.

The problem of the West in implementing strategic projects

I read that Mr. Alexei Miller, the Managing Director of Gazprom, declared that “the South Stream pipeline will be operational by December 2015”. Whether this actually happens or not is debatable. However, the important observation which needs to be made relates to how various countries decide and implement projects of strategic importance. When it comes to countries like Russia and China, economics play an important role, but strategic investments are being pursued even if the economics are uncertain or they are not economically viable. Strategy always wins over economics.

In the West, whether a project is recognized as strategic or not, it has to be implemented by the private sector, which needs to be convinced that the project is economically and financially viable. Strategic considerations are not reflected in the balance sheet of the company. Hence, we have important projects which are stuck in the planning stage and may never be implemented. This is a major problem. Public sector participation is essential. Private Public Partnerships (PPP) is one option.