Public-Private Partnerships in the Lebanese Government

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Public-Private Partnerships in the Lebanese
Government Case Studies For UNESCWA Expert
Group Meeting on Regional Networking and
Partnership for Information Society
Development Crowne Plaza Hotel 5-6 September 2007
Tania Zaroubi Senior ICT Project Manager Office
of the Minister of State for Administrative
Reform (OMSAR)
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PPP and the Government

• Public-private Partnerships (PPP) refers to the
  contractual agreements formed between a public
  agency and private sector entity that allow for
  greater private sector participation in the
  delivery of public sector projects.

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Government Responsibility
The government should take innovative measures
and undertake necessary actions to ensure
collaboration between Public Sector and
Private Sector
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Governments Support PPP

• Because it potentially offers the following
• Reduced upfront financial costs for the service
  delivery.
• Improved service delivery, by reducing the time
  and effort.
• Access to the best technical and management
  skills from both public and private sectors.

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Roles

• The traditional roles of the public and private
  sectors are changing in the knowledge society.
• Governments are increasingly playing the role of
  
• Facilitator
• rather than the service provider and
• Companies within the private sector are not just
  striving for profits, but
• Acquiring Responsibilities
• of a Social Nature.

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PPP

• PPP can cover many sectors
• ICT and e-Government

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E-Government in Lebanon

• The e-government vision for Lebanon centers
  around the attainment of a number of strategic
  objectives based on citizen and business-centric
  approaches.

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e-Government
Opportunities
Knowledge
Growth
Empowerment
Chain reaction
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Justifications

• According to OECD (2004) there are many
  justifications for the need of PPP in the
  E-government implementation, these justifications
  are
• Partnership can free public administrations to
  allow a focus on core policy and business issues,
  and private partner sector takes over ICT
  production issues.
• Partnership can help reduce risk by a formal
  assessment of solutions available in the market.
• Partnership can help E-government to improve
  their own services, and putting services online
  within the private sector.
• Partnership enables the private sector to acquire
  knowledge of the structure and functioning of the
  public sector, and thereby improved specific
  government oriented solutions.

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PPP in the Government of Lebanon

• PPP manifests itself in the following
• Policy and Strategy
• ICT Projects
• Infrastructure
• Portals
• Education
• Cooperation
• Other

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• CASE STUDIES

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Policies and Strategies

• Partnership
• UNDP
• OMSAR
• PCA
• Private Sector
• Academia
• NGOs
• and others
• Documents
• Administrative Reform Strategy 2001
• e-Government Strategy 2002
• e-Strategy 2003

www.omsar.gov.lb
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World Summit on the Information Society
www.omsar.gov.lb

• Partnership
• MOT
• MOET
• OMSAR
• PCA
• Academia
• NGOs
• Banking Sector (Arab Bank, BLC,
• Byblos, Credit Libanais, Banque Med,
• Saradar, Fransabank)
• Strategy Documents
• Lebanon Information Society Paper (2003-2010)
• Lebanon Information Society Action Plan (2003
  2010)
• Designing with the private sector the Lebanese
  Pavilion , the contents and design of the
  brochure to be distributed during the summit, the
  CD-ROM to contain all national papers for Lebanon
  and to be part of the brochure, and the
  multimedia promotion to be shown throughout the
  ICT4D exhibition

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Five Websites

• Partnership
• Talal Abou Ghazali
• OMSAR
• Websites
• Ministry of Education and Higher Education
• Ministry of Public Works
• Ministry of Finance (Cadastre)
• Ministry of Labor
• ENA

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Community Access Centers
Involves the creation of ten new community
access centers in various parts of Lebanon, in
collaboration with local municipalities and the
Ministry of Social Affairs.  These centers will
provide ICT training courses as well as low cost
Internet access to Lebanese citizens.

• Partnership
• Ministry of Social Affairs
• UNDP
• OMSAR
• Microsoft
• Locations
• Rmeich
• Mazboud
• Hammana
• Ayoun
• Houeich
• Rachaya
• Hermel
• Bourj Hammoud
• Seir Denneye
• Jbeil

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SchoolNet Pilot Deployment(Distribution of 24
public schools)

• Beirut
• Rene Mouawad
• Fakhir Aldeen
• Ashrafieh Aoula
• Noor Moghaizal
• North
• Al-Hadadeen (G)
• Al-Hadadeen (B)
• Chekkah
• Zagharta
• Bekaa
• Zahleh (B)
• Jeb Janeen
• Baalbeck (G)
• Housh Al-omara

• South
• Tyre (B)
• Sidon Aoula
• Sidon (B)
• Maghdouchi
• Mount Liban
• Al-Jdedit (G)
• Alleh
• Al-ghoubaira
• Shiheem
• Nabatiyye
• Nabatiyye (G)
• Hassan Al-Sabah
• Jebsheet
• Marjaoun

Interconnects all public and private schools and
available libraries together with the Ministry of
National Education over a state-of-the-art
telecommunications infrastructure with a gateway
to the global internet and supported by the
latest information and communications
technologies.
Internet
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PC4ALL

• Partnership
• Ministry of Education
• PCA
• OMSAR
• Banking Sector
• Company was formed in 2005 NATIONAL PC
• Brand Name UNITY
• Cost - 500
• Hardware/Software/Training/Internet

• To transform a highly literate Lebanese Society
  to an exemplary Digital Information Society
  within a period of 5 years through the provision
  of an affordable Personal Computer Pack to
  citizens, to be paid in easy single monthly
  installments over 2 to 3 years.

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PICTA

• Partnership
• 22 September 2006
• Locations
• Nabatiyeh
• Hasbayyah
• Burj Al Barajneh
• Qana
• Bent Jbeil
• Marjeyoun
• Baalbeck
• Batroun
• Sibil
• Ein
• Alma Al Shaab
• Shmastar

PCA ICT Academy (PICTA) are fully equipped and
staffed training and technology centers to help
local community members to connect with loved
ones in Lebanon and around the World, train young
people to develop their ICT skills and thus open
up potential job prospects, and to enhance the
lives of whole communities through access to the
latest communications technology.
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Citizen Enterprise

• Partnership
• OMSAR
• Private Sector
• Citizen Enterprise
• "LAffichage Picasso" which put at the disposal
  of OMSAR five thousand billboards to be used in
  campaigns for promotion of citizenship concepts
  and citizen - state relation
• Team International which developed training
  programs tailored to meet the requirements and
  goals for developing the public sector.
• Raidi printhouse which contributed printing
  17,000 copies of the booklet on the "Code of
  Conduct for Civil Servants in the public Sector,
  in addition to 2,000 posters.
• Chemaly and Chemaly printhouse which
  contributed printing 10 thousand copies of the
  "Employee Guide" and 10 thousand cards for the
  Central Office for Administrative Information.

A dedicated enterprise concerned with sustained
development through allocating part of its
resources for development projects. It takes into
consideration the political, legal and social
affairs of the citizen, based on sound social and
environmental criteria and principles of ethics
and transparency.
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Ministry of Education and Higher Education

• Implementation of the project Partners in
  Learning (PIL) in collaboration with Microsoft
  and Eduware Data System
• Equipping 16 resource centers in collaboration
  with CISCO and Harriri Foundation, in order to
  train teachers at public schools on the basic use
  of computers (computer literacy)
• Renewal and upgrading of the Microsoft Academic
  Agreement which ensures the provision of latest
  Microsoft operating system releases and other
  Microsoft basic products (e.g. Microsoft Office,
  Exchange server and other)
• Implementation of the project Pearls Microsoft
  which aims to train teachers on the basic uses of
  the computer as an educational tool, in
  collaboration with Intel
• Building capacity of the educational consulate in
  collaboration with Hariri Foundation and the
  World Links

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PPP at the Institute of Finance

• 3 types of public private partnerships
• Joint Consultative Committees
• Partnerships on learning
• Problem-solving partnerships
• Objectives
• Promoting dialogue among the private and public
  sectors
• Networking
• Sharing of expertise

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Joint Consultative Committees

• What is it?
• A Forum bringing together representatives from
  the Lebanese private sector (known as the
  Lebanese Economic Instances) and the Ministry of
  Finance
• Launched in 1999 Relaunched in September 2005.
• What are the Objectives?
• Improving the relationship between taxpayers and
  the financial and customs administrations
• Simplifying existing administrative procedures
• Promoting investment in the private sector.
• Achievements?
• In March 2006, 56 of the 84 suggestions were
  implemented by the Lebanese Government and in
  particular by the Ministry of Finance.

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Partnerships in Learning

• Memorandum of Understanding signed with
• The Lebanese Association of Banks
• SGBL
• The Institute of Political Sciences - USJ
• Objectives of the agreements
• Joint Dissemination and learning activities via
  Conferences, workshops and other venues
• Sharing of learning material
• Exchange of trainers and trainees
• Exchange and dissemination of publications of
  common interest.

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Problem-solving Partnerships

• Memorandum of Understanding signed with
• The Lebanese Association of Certified Public
  Accountants (LACPA)
• Objectives of the agreement
• Discussing recent issues in taxation
• Awareness and problem-solving.
• Activities for 2007
• Workshop on stamp duty
• Workshop on VAT
• Workshop on the Reformed Structure of the Mount
  Lebanon MoF Office
• Workshop on fiscal procedures of off-shores and
  holdings
• Workshop on Build Property tax.

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Ministry of Telecommunication

• Partnership
• MOT and OGERO
• ISP and DSPs (Data service Providers)
• Through
• Colocation (allow private sector to locate
  equipment in Public premises)
• Unbundling of Local Loop (private sector can use
  the local loop in delivering DSL service to
  end-user)

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Recommendations

• PPP in the Lebanese Government is to be
• Promoted
• Mechanism to be introduced
• Facilitated
• Raising Awareness

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• Thank You
• Tania Zaroubi
• Senior ICT Project Manager
• Office of the Minister of State for
  Administrative Reform (OMSAR)