New Act underway for PPP National Agency

By Nuzla Rizkiya  

The government is set to formulate a new legislative Act for the National Agency for Public-Private Partnership (NAPPP) to enhance the legal validity of the agency and its partnership agreements. 

The Cabinet this week approved a proposal presented by President Ranil Wickremesinghe to formulate a new bill for the agency in a bid to provide a legal foundation for its operations and to structure its partnership agreements under a legal framework. The approval also included instructions to the Legal Draftsman to draft the new bill. 

The NAPPP is a government institution tasked with forming partnerships with international organisations to identify and implement joint programmes in collaboration with government agencies. 

The agency was originally established by the government in 2017 in an effort to prioritise the formation of potential public-private partnership transactions and facilitate private sector financing for the development of infrastructure and services. 

The organisational structure along with the staffing, capacity-building activities, management and the development of tools were funded by the World Bank during its establishment.  However, in 2020, the government disbanded the agency citing that the unit was no longer necessary as the administration was already taking action to streamline its activities and consolidate functions. 

Following a hiatus, the agency was re-established in 2022 under the purview of the Ministry of Finance, Economic Stabilisation, and National Policies through a proposal of the interim budget presented in parliament in August that year.