Public-Private Partnerships Heightening Country’s Global Profile

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, says the implementation of several successful Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects are heightening Jamaica’s profile across the global investment community.

He says the outcomes of undertakings, such as privatisation of the Kingston Container Terminal (KCT) and the North-South Highway, have served to elevate Jamaica’s ranking to fourth among countries in Latin America and the Caribbean with notable track records in PPP implementation.

The Prime Minister was speaking at the Norman Manley International Airport (NMIA) PPP concession agreement signing at the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) on Wednesday (Oct. 10).

Mr. Holness said the execution of PPPs, such as the NMIA’s privatisation, enables the Government to fully maximise the potential of State assets, by pairing them with the skills/competencies that can best unlock this, adding that by so doing, “we then share in a bigger value [dividend].”

The Prime Minister said that in the case of the NMIA, management of its operations is being divested to Mexican entity, Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico S.A.B. De C.V. (GAP), “people who are airport specialists.”

Mr Holness emphasised that while the State is retaining ownership of the facility under the 25-year concession agreement, “we have to face the fact that the Government of Jamaica was never and probably will never be specialists in the management of airports.”

In this regard, he said it is imperative that the Government continuously engages the public to debunk misconceptions that relinquishing direct hands-on management and operation of State assets limit their value.

The Prime Minister argued that allowing persons and entities with the competent skills, as is the case with GAP, to assume direct responsibility for managing the NMIA will serve to “unlock a new world of opportunity for our airport.”

Mr. Holness said the Government’s PPP agenda reflects a far more “enlightened approach” in acknowledging that there is a new pathway for achieving higher levels of economic growth for Jamaica, “if we are willing to unlock and unleash the assets and have them paired with the right competencies.”

Under the NMIA concession agreement, GAP will be responsible for improving the airport’s land and air operational efficiency, and financing and completing a modernisation programme, at an estimated cost of over U$110 million.

Additionally, the Government will receive a guaranteed percentage of the airport’s gross revenues. The entity has the option to extend the contract by another five years.

The GAP has concession management agreements, some totalling 50 years, for 13 airports in Mexico.

The entity has been managing operations at the Sangster International Airport   (SIA) in Montego Bay since 2003.