Baluchistan is bustling with tremendous opportunity with the potential to generate significant socioeconomic growth for not only the province, but Pakistan in general. Development in mining, coastal and infrastructure are just some of the key areas which need to be effectively leveraged to bring about much-needed impetus and consequently push Baluchistan to the forefront of Pakistan’s economic progress.

The Federal Public Private Partnership Authority (P3A) has been closely collaborating with PPP stakeholders in Baluchistan and playing a pivotal role in enabling the achievement of the Baluchistan government’s PPP agenda. P3A’s core strategic vision is to drive the uplift of the national PPP ecosystem, working with key stakeholder groups in various capacities to achieve that, while creating a dynamic market of bankable PPP projects at the federal level.

To this end, on Thursday the 23^rd of December 2021, the second in a series of workshops was hosted by P3A in partnership with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and focused on Baluchistan’s PPP regime. The workshop brought together PPP units at the federal and provincial levels to brainstorm best practices in preparing and implementing PPP projects, navigate bottlenecks in Baluchistan’s PPP landscape and
encourage overall collaboration among various stakeholders.

The workshop was chaired by P3A’s Chief Executive Officer, Malik Ahmad Khan who delivered the opening remarks and reiterated P3A’s and the Federal Government’s commitment and support to the provinces to advance PPPs in the country.


The ADB panel of experts included: Aania Alam, acting Head Strategy & Operations at P3A, policy and transformation expert with extensive international experience including in multilateral policy advisory for the G20; Dr. Daud Munir, Partner Axis Law Chamber, member of the New York Bar and Advocate of the High Courts of Pakistan; and Ali Khan, Founder and Managing Partner of Ali Khan Law Associates, and former Partner of Haidermota & Co. The discussions were further assisted by both ADB consultants and P3A’s Projects Team.

The primary goal was to deliberate best practices with a panel of industry experts in developing the PPP ecosystem in Baluchistan, particularly in the context of curating Baluchistan’s project pipeline, navigating bottlenecks, and building out the PPP regulatory and institutional framework. It delved deep into topics such as project processing, capacity building, bankability, securitization, and achieving financial close effectively. In addition, the workshop also aimed at establishing an ‘open door’ policy for ongoing collaboration and knowledge sharing.

During the discussion, government officials and representatives from Baluchistan shared their experiences and challenges related to institution and capacity building, to gain a better understanding of how to best leverage their resources to capitalize their existing capacity and build-out new capabilities.
Experts provided insights on how best to overcome the challenges discussed, while citing examples from international best practices as well as P3A’s learnings through its development journey.

The experts also shared extensive case studies and provided knowledge insights to showcase best practices on how to effectively securitize projects, ensure bankability, and achieve financial close. Success stories were showcased from across Pakistan to provide examples.

Additionally, Baluchistan’s representatives shared their challenges and concerns related to the existing regulatory regime, with the experts providing insights on how to strengthen and advance it, while giving examples of key learnings and best practices from P3A as well as other established provincial PPP units.

The participants were inspired by the quantum of effort and dedication P3A had put in advancing its PPP ecosystem within a short span of time. The Baluchistan officials expressed their willingness to continue greater dialogue in the future and recommended inviting Baluchistan private sector stakeholders to future workshops as well to strengthen the public-private collaboration and dialogue.

Both P3A and ADB pledged their support in supporting the PPP capacity buildout which is vital in shaping the overall development landscape of the country, thus creating the required infrastructure and services for Pakistan’s burgeoning population, as well as uplifting the socioeconomic well-being of the people.

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