International Seminar on Strengthening Public Investment and Managing Fiscal Risks from Public-Private Partnerships

International Monetary Fund; Hungarian Ministry of Finance; International Center for Economic Growth—European Center
Budapest, Hungary; March 7–8, 2007

This high-level two-day seminar will look at key issues related to strengthening public investment and managing fiscal risks from public-private partnerships (PPPs). The first part of the seminar will be devoted to taking stock of the current macroeconomic and institutional setting for public investment, the fiscal and budget frameworks in which public investment decisions are made, and the role of pre- and post-accession European Union (EU) support instruments in this context. The seminar will then focus on the role of PPPs in developing public infrastructure, discuss institutional requirements for managing fiscal risks from PPPs, review fiscal accounting and reporting issues, and reflect on the experiences from different countries.  

The seminar is targeted at high-level public officials from the new member states of the EU, selected old member states that have some experience with PPPs, and selected European countries that are not EU members. Representatives from various international organizations and academia will also participate. The seminar is by invitation only.

The seminar is organized jointly by the IMF's Fiscal Affairs Department, the Hungarian Ministry of Finance (HMOF), and the International Center for Economic Growth—European Center (ICEG-EC). It will be hosted in the conference facility (József Antall Hall) of the National Bank of Hungary (MNB), which is located at Szabadság tér 8-9 in downtown Budapest. The seminar hotel, located at Roosevelt tér 2, is in walking distance from the conference facility. The conference dinner on March 7 will be held in the Club of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, which is located at Roosevelt tér 9, close to the seminar hotel. The seminar language will be English (no translation services will be available).

Disclaimer
The views expressed in these papers are those of the authors only, and the presence of them, or of links to them, on the IMF website does not imply that the IMF, its Executive Board, or its management endorses or shares the views expressed in the papers.

PROGRAM

Wednesday, March 7
Opening Session
09:00 Opening remarks
Pál Gáspár (ICEG-EC), on behalf of the conference organizers
09:05 Welcoming remarks
Henrik Auth, Deputy Governor (National Bank of Hungary)
09:15 Keynote Speech: Public Investment and PPPs—Main Challenges for European Policy Makers 
Miklós Tátrai, Senior State Secretary (HMOF)
09:30 Overview: Public Investment and PPPs—Objectives for the Seminar
Teresa Ter-Minassian, Director (IMF)
Session 1: Public Investment and Fiscal Policy
Chair: Richard Hemming (IMF)
09:45 Public Capital and Economic Growth: Key Issues for Europe
Jan-Egbert Sturm (ETH, Zürich/Switzerland) [presentation]
10:05 Public Investment in Europe: Evolution and Determinants
Eric Perée (EIB) [presentation]
10:25 Coffee Break
10:45 Challenges for Public Investment in New EU Member States
Filip Keereman (EU Commission) [presentation]
11:05 Fiscal Adjustment and Public Investment: Experiences in the New Member States and Some Preliminary Policy Lessons
Ana Corbacho (IMF) [presentation]
11:25 Public Investment Planning and the Budget Framework: Institutional Reform Considerations
Eivind Tandberg (IMF) [presentation]
11:45 Comments and Discussion
Discussants: Christophe Kamps (ECB); Christoph Rosenberg (IMF)
12:30 Lunch sponsored by Ministry of Finance, Hungary
Session 2: PPPs: Managing Fiscal Risks
Chair: Teresa Ter-Minassian (IMF)
14:00   Managing Fiscal Risks from PPPs—Main Issues for Governments
Gerd Schwartz (IMF) [presentation]
14:20 PPPs and Fiscal Risks—Experiences from Portugal
Rui Monteiro (Parpública/Portugal) [presentation]
14:40 Comments and Discussion
Discussants: Gábor Kiss (National Bank of Hungary); Marko Mršnik [presentation](EU Commission)
15:30 Coffee Break
Session 3: PPPs: Strengthening the Institutional Environment
Chair: Tom Barrett (EIB)
16:00 OECD Principles for Private Sector Participation in Infrastructure
Hans Christiansen (OECD) [presentation]
16:20 The Legal Framework for PPPs—A Comparative Analysis of Eastern and Central European Countries
Alexei Zverev (EBRD) [presentation]
16:40 Doing PPPs: Institutional Capacity Requirements
Nicholas Jennett (EIB) [presentation]
17:00 Comments and Discussion
Discussants: Dragan Penezic (Ministry of International Economic Relations/Serbia); Bohdan Hejduk (Ministry of Finance/Czech Republic)
18:00 Close
20:00 Conference dinner sponsored by the EIB (to be held in the Hungarian Academy of Sciences).
Opening remarks: Willy Kiekens (Executive Director, IMF)
Keynote speaker: Tom Barrett (EIB)
Thursday, March 8
Session 4: Addressing Key Challenges in PPP Design
Chairs: Gerd Schwartz (IMF) and Pál Gáspár (ICEG-EC)
08:30 Value for Money and PPPs: Theory and Practice
Thorsten Beckers (TU Berlin/Germany) [presentation]
08:50 Quality Control in Preparing and Managing PPP Projects
Ed Farquharson & Michael Gerrard (Partnerships U.K.) [presentation]
09:30 Efficient Risk Transfer and Modeling of Fiscal Risk
Tim Irwin (World Bank) [presentation]
09:50 Coffee Break
10:10 Combining PPPs with EU Grants
Hugh Goldsmith (EIB) [presentation]
10:30 Negotiating and Renegotiating Infrastructure Concessions—Key Issues for Policy Makers
Luis Guasch (World Bank) [presentation]
10:50   Bankability and Fiscal Risk—The Lender's Perspective
Robin Earle (EBRD) [presentation]
11:10   Comments and Discussion
Discussants: Kálmán Seregélyes (HMOF); Daniel Bergvall (OECD)
12:00 Lunch sponsored by the IMF
Session 5: PPP Accounting and Reporting
Chair: Cornelis Gorter (IMF)
13:30 Eurostat's Approach
Philippe De Rougemont (Eurostat) [presentation]
13:45 PPPs and International Public Sector Accounting Standards
Mike Hathorn (International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board) [presentation]
14:00 PPP Accounting and Reporting Issues
Richard Hemming (IMF) [presentation]
14:15 Comments and Discussion
Discussants: François Bergère (Ministry of Finance/France); Bernhard Müller (Ministry of Finance/Germany) [presentation]
15:00 Coffee Break
Session 6:  Achieving Value for Money: Perspectives from PPP Audits
Chair: Jeremy Colman (Audit Office of Wales/U.K.)
15:20   Portugal
Francisco Machado (Tribunal de Contas/Portugal) [presentation]
15:40     Hungary
Gusztáv Báger (State Audit Office/Hungary) [presentation]
16:00   United Kingdom
Patricia Leahy (National Audit Office/UK) [presentation]
16:20 Comments and Discussion
Discussant: Juan Ramallo-Massanet (Member of the Court/European Court of Auditors)
Session 7: Public Investment and PPPs: Lessons for European Policy Makers
Chair: Willy Kiekens, Executive Director (IMF)
17:00       Roundtable Discussion
  Teresa Ter-Minassian (IMF)
  Michael Gerrard (PUK)
  Nicholas Jennett (EIB)
  Ellis Juan (World Bank)
  Kálmán Seregélyes (HMOF)
18:00 Official Closing
Miklós Tátrai, Senior State Secretary (HMOF)
18:15 Seminar End