UAE Ministry of Finance Establishes Framework to Enable Sustainable Public-Private Partnerships

The UAE Ministry of Finance is committed to enhancing public-private partnerships and recognises the significant role that such collaboration plays in the socio-economic development of the UAE. It also enhances sustainable economic development and achieves comprehensive prosperity for all members of society. Global experiences have shown that partnership contracts with the private sector work to increase efficiency and effectiveness, improve the level and quality of services, reduce costs, and optimally utilise resources through innovation, enhancing competitiveness, stimulating the economy, and safeguarding individuals’ interests.

The UAE Ministry of Finance strives to develop and manage integrated and effective strategies and works to enhance cooperation and dialogue between the public and private sectors due to the importance of this collaboration and its impact on various aspects of the national economy. It also works to improve governance frameworks to maintain the efficiency and flexibility of government work and develop its tools.

This partnership, between the public and private sectors, is a model aimed at enhancing cooperation and understanding between the federal public sector and the private sector to implement joint projects or provide services to the community in various fields such as infrastructure, health, education, energy, transportation, and others. This partnership helps to utilise the private sector’s capital, knowledge, and expertise in project management, which contributes to expanding the public sector’s available financial resources as a result of cooperation with the private sector, reducing the timeframes for project implementation, and minimising the cost of services.

The UAE Ministry of Finance continues its efforts to establish a public-private partnership framework and to set up a legislative infrastructure that effectively contributes to protecting the rights of all parties. This is achieved through the implementation of several initiatives, measures, and awareness workshops.

Partnership Regulation

Translating this approach and aiming to create the best conditions to encourage various industries in the UAE, stimulate investment, and attract more new investments, the Ministry of Finance recently announced the issuance of Federal Decree-Law No. (12) of 2023 on regulating the federal public-private partnerships. This law encourages the private sector to participate in developmental and strategic projects within a clear regulatory framework that ensures the success of efforts to build efficient and effective government strategic projects.

The law aims to encourage the private sector to participate in developmental and strategic projects and to regulate the partnership between the federal public sector and the private sector in the country. It aims to increase investment in economic, social, and service projects carried out by the federal public sector and enable the government to implement its strategic projects efficiently and effectively.

Encouraging Joint Projects

This year, the UAE Ministry of Finance has doubled its efforts to realise the visions of the UAE’s wise leadership in developing the financial and economic sector, advancing sustainable development, and achieving leading ranks for the UAE at all levels to enhance the country’s positioning.

The Next Phase

As part of the UAE Ministry of Finance’s efforts to support the country’s efforts to stimulate joint projects between federal government entities and the private sector, the Ministry will prepare a guide to regulate the public-private partnerships. This guidebook defines the detailed provisions regulating partnership projects to govern the procedures and standards for presenting partnership projects, including project proposals and the mechanism for requesting clarification, as well as market studies, value-for-money evaluations, project structuring, and management.

The guide highlights the efforts of the UAE Ministry of Finance in clarifying the roles and responsibilities of the relevant entities by documenting the procedures related to the partnership contracts and how to govern them, which are in line with the provisions of Federal Decree-Law No. (12) of 2023.