Turkish experience with public private partnerships in infrastructure: Opportunities and challenges

• The paper investigates Turkish experience with PPPs in infrastructure services.
• It finds that PPPs have been extensively used to extend infrastructure base.
• The main reason for extensive use of PPPs is high public deficits and debt.
• The government largely ignores value for money considerations while engaging in them.

Turkey has been the most active user of PPP contracts for the delivery of infrastructure services in Eurasia in recent years. Also, it has an ambitious PPP portfolio which would be realized in coming years. This study attempts to explore whether PPPs would genuinely bring efficiency gains in the delivery of public services or pose new challenges for the performance of public administration from a broader economic perspective. The government has considered them as a panacea to deliver much needed infrastructure services, due to the large fiscal deficits and high public debt. This study argues that although PPPs can play a role in facilitating infrastructure investments, they can still impose unduly costs on the society, if enabling institutions, rules and procedures surrounding PPPs remain immature.