Pakistan's Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Minister for Finance, Revenue, Economic Affairs, Statistics and Privatization, has recently introduced the Public Private Partnership (PPP) Authority Bill, 2016.

Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar presented the Bill at the National Assembly on May 9th.

The bill is expected to provide a regulatory and enabling environment for private participation in provision of public infrastructure and related services through fair and transparent procurement processes.

The infrastructure needs of a growing population in a developing economy like Pakistan exceed the fiscal resources available to fulfill them.

For developing countries, PPPs are a well-accepted procurement and financing modality to address an important portion of these infrastructure gaps. 

The Government of Pakistan launched its PPP program in the power generation sector in the early 1990s and more than twenty IPP deals have been signed since then. The Governments IPP program is managed by the Private Power and Infrastructure Board (PPIB). 

The National Ports Authority (NPA) and the National Highway Authority (NHA) are responsible for PPPs in their respective areas. They each have two PPPs in the operational stages now.

 In 2006, the Ministry of Finance established the Infrastructure Project Development Facility (IPDF) to develop policy and promote implementation in all tiers of the Government. The PPP Policy of 2007, revised in 2010, facilitates PPPs across all infrastructure sectors and at both federal and provincial level. This directly led to the setting up of PPP programs in the provinces of Sindh and Punjab.