Joel Branski, the country’s representative of the Inter-American Bank, told delegates in Barbados at the Caribbean PPPs for Sustainable Growth forum that the lack of public money had seen a decline in public capital being invested in the construction of new infrastructure.
According to Branski, the existing infrastructure gap has had a clear impact on economic growth, job creation and social cohesion.
"In this context, the region is giving greater consideration to the public-private partnership model. We will be reflecting on the opportunities for and the challenges to the use of this model, where the private sector is engaged to provide some of the services or infrastructure that are the responsibility of the government, with shared objectives and shared potential risks and rewards," he said.
The forum is the first of its kind in the Caribbean and is set to focus on over 65 public sector agencies and include key multilateral institutions. Participants are expected to share knowledge on using PPPs to develop sustainable and productive infrastructure and basic services in the Caribbean.