Sharing the risks

A new law passed this summer could help facilitate sorely needed investment to fix the country’s infrastructure. The legislation, a framework for public-private partnerships (PPP), puts into law new options for sharing risks between companies and the government when investing in, building, and operating new public works. Ziad Hayek, secretary general of the Higher Council of Privatization (HCP), tells Executive that Lebanon needs at least $6 billion to revitalize its infrastructure. The country’s roads are jammed with traffic, it has no long-term garbage solution, and its electricity supply is unreliable. Amongst other proposed infrastructure projects, the government has recently announced intentions to expand capacity at Beirut’s airport and to re-open Tripoli’s Rene Mouawad Air Base to passenger traffic. Lebanon has had difficulty structuring PPP projects, and the new legal framework should help clean up that process. Lebanon has already had a few PPPs: Jeita Grotto, the waste treatment plant in