The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is considering a US$750,000 (66.8 million) technical co-operation with Jamaica aimed at improving its business climate through greater access to finance and funding of infrastructure projects through public-private partnerships (PPPs).

The IDB expects to coordinate with the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), which will in turn coordinate with all the relevant government stakeholders such as Jamaica Trade and Invest and the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service.

According to the multilateral agency in documents tied to the project, “a recent study on the status of the institutional and regulatory framework for PPPs in the Caribbean showed that the size of the Jamaican economy, as well as the number and scale of potential infrastructure projects create an opportunity for GOJ to attract private sector investments under the PPP scheme”.

“Jamaica might be able to attract private investments given that it has shown to be politically stable, and the fact that it has a legal and regulatory system conducive

to the introduction of PPP procurement methodologies,” said the project documents. “However, the GoJ would still need to make some important regulatory reforms as well as generate strength in the technical expertise needed to manage complex procurement processes and contingent liabilities.”

The specific objectives include:

1) enhancing knowledge on the major constraints to private sector development (PSD);

2) increasing access to finance through the implementation of a secured transactions framework;

3) increase financing for infrastructure projects through public private partnerships (PPPs); and

4) increased Public-Private consensus and focus on strategic interventions to promote private sector development.

“These actions have been identified by the GoJ as critical to foster private sector-led growth and are part of the priority actions that the GoJ prioritised to promote

private sector development,” added the document.

The non-reimbursable technical cooperation is also directly related to the Compete Caribbean Programme operation currently under preparation that will establish a US$32.55 million grant programme to provide technical assistance and investment funding to support productive development policies, business climate reforms, clustering initiatives and SME development activities within a comprehensive private sector development framework, in all 15 CARIFORUM countries.