Mr Suri gave a presentation to business decision-makers on 'Privatising Infrastructure in the Middle East'.
"Privatisation is the buzzword in the region," said Suri, "With huge debt and capital inflows needed to set up power and liquefied gas projects, many Middle East countries have espoused privatising their power, transport and telecom assets."
With privatisation clearly already under way in Abu Dhabi, Oman and Bahrain, Ravi Suri of Standard Chartered Bank outlined to an interested audience how the Middle East is shaping up in comparison to other regions, and what lessons can be learnt from countries that have trod a similar path.
"Timing, planning, balance and regulation are the critical ingredients for successful privatisation," continued Suri,"Governments need to correctly time their entry into privatisation and get their house in order before considering doing so. Abu Dhabi is a prime example of how to get things right, as it privatised not because it needed capital, but because it wanted to improve efficiency."
Good planning is key to successful privatisation, and governments should be prepared to lower prices by creating competition in elements of infrastructure chains where barriers to entry are low, such as power generation; and regulate those elements of chain where barriers to entry are high such as power transmission. It is also the role of the government to ensure the privatisation process does not result in undue gains to any one entity.
"The key is to strike a balance between the returns offered to foreign investors, improvement in service and affordability of the service post privatisation. The Middle East has been successful to date on this score."
"Privatisation is a means to an end, not an end in itself. For it to be successful, it is critical for public policy, regulatory and market structures to be in force before private capital is deployed," concluded Suri.
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Privatising infrastructure in Middle East
- United Arab Emirates: Monday, February 26 - 2007 at 09:20
- PRESS RELEASE
Standard Chartered, a leading international bank in the UAE, were represented at the recent MENA Investment Summit in Dubai by Ravi Suri, Managing Director, Project Export Finance.
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