RIYADH — The minimum value of public and private partnership (PPP) project has been set at SR200 million, Okaz/Saudi Gazette has learned from the executive regulations of the Privatization Law. There are a total of 159 articles in the law, which was approved by the Council of Ministers. According to the executive regulations, the minimum value for the PPP project is calculated by the executive authority on the basis of the total expected nominal value during the period of the project, after estimating the capital and operating expenditures, potential financial obligations on the state's public treasury, in addition to the financial revenues expected to be obtained by the government. According to well-informed sources, the regulations are aimed to organize the work of privatization projects and clarify the procedures and mechanism of the workflow. The regulations include the detailed provisions necessary to implement the Privatization Law and the detailed governance framework regulating projects, tasks and responsibilities of various parties involved in privatization projects. The regulations also clarify the aspects stipulated in the law and list the principles of privatization and project plan implementation priorities, and public-private partnership methods. The National Center for Privatization implements privatization initiatives and opportunities in 16 sectors in order to provide the best services in accordance with the objectives of the Kingdom's Vision 2030. The executive authority can include more than one project of a similar nature to achieve the minimum stipulated project value in the law and if the stipulated minimum is not achieved and the concerned body sees it is better to continue offering the project related to the infrastructure or public service, then the rules and regulations would apply to it. According to the regulations, 10 working days will be given to complete the procedures from the date of announcing the list of persons who expressed their desire to compete in the privatization project. The regulation will stimulate investors to increase their participation in the opportunities presented to play a greater role in the country's economic development and increase its contribution to the GDP. The regulations define the principles to be observed while implementing projects, which are fairness, transparency, contract enforcement, planning and feasibility. The regulations also framed special controls for studying privatization projects and preparing the project document that forms the basis for the government's decision to approve it, in addition to the controls and requirements associated with the offering, which ensure real competition and protect the public interest and integrity and fairness in the procedures for offering and awarding projects. There should be impartiality in the case of all participants and there should not be any conflict of interests. The regulations unveil the procedures for transferring ownership of assets, the mechanisms for offering, implementing and contracting them, and the conditions and controls necessary for this. The regulations stressed, among its provisions, the governance framework for the phase of contract management, monitoring of project implementation, and the commitment of the private party to the provisions of the contract. The duration of public-private partnership contracts shall be 30 years or more.
