Thank you for your Question Manish. Government and private sector sometimes have opposing interests, but often too they have a common interest. Marketing and communicating PPP opportunity entails finding that common interest and building a partneship upon it. For example, the mobile phone companies in Bangladesh are very keen to set up an agriculture call center. MOA also realizes the need. Both parties could market and communicate their strengths to each other and find an even balance of tasks and risks. The decision to carry out a project in partnership with the private sector is mostly for the government to take. Naturally it is also possible for private sector parties to take the initiative and approach the government with proposals. Either party's proposal should list what it can offer to the other. The dialogue should start from the initiation phase. I hope that brings a little more clarity. Best Rubaiya

Dear Members. I would like to take this opportunity to share my ideas and views on effective PPP. In Bangladesh, despite both sectors' considerable effort in trying to build meaningful partnership, very few initiatives have thus been successful. Much of this is due to inadequate understanding of what PPP entails, lack of mutual trust and absence of proper strategy. A win-win PPP model recognizes that the public and private sectors have different strengths and allows each to do what it does best. For example, through PPP, we could potentially win the "content" battle once and for all. Currently, the content available in most telecenters in Bangladesh has either been retrieved from an obsolete source or it is merely a digitized version of printed materials available at the local agriculture office. These centers also often fail to respond to farmers' need for time sensitive information such as market price or weather update or production related information on fertilizer or pesticide, which, if incorrect, can prove to be fatal. The agencies under the Ministry of Agriculture such as the Department of Agriculture Marketing (DAM) or Agriculture Information Service (AIS), which have access to the latest information and technologies and are mandated to provide these services could partner with these telecenters and enrich their knowledgebase. Private sector, with its strength of logistic support and diverse expertise could ensure effective and efficient delivery of information by leveraging existing public infrastructure or developing new if needed. This will underpin the role of government as the regulator rather than a service provider and strengthen the credibility of service provided by the private sector. In order to ensure sustainability, there also has to be a long term commitment from the public sector to the provision of quality public services and willingness of private sector to share and manage potential risks. A key success factor in the delivery of PPP projects and in the development of a competitive PPP market also lies in a solid flow of prospective projects brought forward at an early stage by Departments and procuring authorities. One of the key activities during the initial phase of any PPP programme should be the creation and maintenance of private sector interest in that programme. This may involve marketing and communicating PPP opportunities both within the country and abroad. Consultation with potential private sector service providers can raise awareness of PPP opportunities and contribute to the learning experience within the public service sector.

I am Rubaiya Ahmad , working in the "Access to Information (A2I)" Programme of the Chief Adviser's Office, Bangladesh. As part of the e-Governance action plan of "Access to Information (A2I)", an "e-Krishi (e.Agriculture) Vision 2025" has been developed. The primary focus of this document is to explore the possible role of ICT in the enhancement and development of the Agriculture sector of Bangladesh. This document not only looks into the future and imagine our country's agriculture, but also recommends a priority action plan. A team from A2I, including myself, had been working closely with the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock and other agriculture stakeholders for the past few months to chalk out possible PPP models for a successful implementation of these priority actions. I have been diligently following the discussions of this forum for the past two weeks and feel compelled to share my experience and ideas with all of you. It is indeed a privilege to be a part of such an initiative. I wish this forum best of luck and hope to see increased participation of policy makers as well as rural stakeholders in the future.