Dhaka: Forty-three projects, now in the pipeline of Public Private Partnership (PPP) initiative, are expected to draw some $14 billion investment.

This was informed at the first Board of Governors meeting of the PPP Authority held at the Prime Minister’s Office on Thursday with Board of Governors chairperson and prime minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.

PM’s press secretary Ihsanul Karim briefed reporters after the meeting.

He said the meeting reviewed the implementation, progress of PPP activities in the country for the last couple of years, and was informed about the development of the PPP projects, selecting private partners, possible time for signing the final agreements and the possible amount of overall investment.

The meeting was also informed that the final agreements on six projects have been signed while the feasibility studies for 18 projects have been completed spending Tk 77 crore from the PPP technical fund which is expected to attract around Tk 10,000 crore investment in the country.

Besides, 11 projects are at the final stage of selecting private partners which are expected to draw investment of around one billion dollar while 10 projects are at the stage of feasibility study with an expected investment of around five billion dollar.

Speaking at the meeting, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina stressed the importance of expediting the pace of development saying, ‘We want to accelerate the pace of development in the country, but this is not possible the government alone…there’s also need for PPP initiatives.’

Sheikh Hasina cited that the private sector had played a key role in the development of South Korea.

Highlighting the bright prospects of PPP projects in the country, the Prime Minister said many projects have so far been implemented under PPP, and asked the authorities concerned to always look for the country’s benefits while moving ahead with PPP projects.

The meeting decided that the Prime Minister as chairperson of the Board of Governors would look after the policy issues, while the PM’s Principal Secretary, as the chairman of the PPP Authority, will look after the issues for removing the obstacles to project implementation, and the Chief Executive Officer of the PPP Authority look after the operational aspects.

Finance Minister AMA Muhith, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader, Housing and Public Works Minister Engineer Mosharraf Hossain, Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon, Railways Minister Muzibul Haque, State Minister for Finance and Planning MA Mannan and State Minister for ICT Junaid Ahmed Palak, among others, attended the meeting.