[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 33, Number 48 (Monday, December 1, 1997)]
[Pages 1920-1922]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The Vancouver Framework for Enhanced Public-Private Partnerships in 
Infrastructure Development

November 25, 1997

    Strengthened partnerships between the public and private sectors are 
needed to put in place and manage the infrastructure required by the 
APEC region to meet its economic, environmental and social goals. To 
this end, we declare the following:

Voluntary Principles

    We reaffirm the Voluntary Principles for Facilitating Private Sector 
Participation in Infrastructure developed by Finance Ministers, namely:
(i)         To establish and maintain a sound macroeconomic environment.

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(ii)        To establish stable and transparent legal frameworks and 
            regulatory systems to provide a high level of investor 
            protection.
(iii)       To adopt sectoral policies that promote, where applicable, 
            competitive and efficient provision of infrastructure 
            services.
(iv)        To increase the availability of long-term capital required 
            for infrastructure investments by accelerating efforts to 
            broaden and deepen domestic financial and capital markets.

Financing and Investment

(v)         We reaffirm Finance Ministers' call on multilateral 
            financial institutions to catalyze and support member 
            economies' own efforts in infrastructure development, 
            including by promoting sound framework policies through 
            technical assistance, facilitating flows of private capital 
            while continuing to provide direct financial support for 
            infrastructure development, and developing innovative 
            financing mechanisms to address the long-term financing 
            requirements of infrastructure projects.
(vi)        We encourage Finance Ministers to continue to implement the 
            specific initiatives launched in Cebu to facilitate, in 
            collaboration with multilateral financial institutions and 
            the private sector, the development of domestic financial 
            and capital markets. In this regard, we ask them to continue 
            to work with private sector financiers and providers of risk 
            coverage and investment ratings to promote the development 
            of robust and liquid domestic bond markets, including 
            markets for asset-backed securities which, as noted by ABAC, 
            will enhance private investment in large-scale 
            infrastructure projects.
(vii)       We welcome the mutual cooperation Protocol signed by 
            participating Export Credit Agencies and Export Financing 
            Institutions to enhance, on a project-by-project basis, the 
            attrac- tiveness of infrastructure investment for private 
            sector participants.

Improving Capacities

    Improving capacities is key to accelerating the development of 
economically viable infrastructure projects that the private sector can 
support. To this end, we affirm the need for action in the following 
areas:
(viii)      To promote the application of state of the art practices in 
            each phase of the infrastructure planning, development, 
            management, use and retirement cycle.
(ix)        To develop domestic capacities so that public officials 
            involved in infrastructure development in agencies dealing 
            with private investors have appropriate expertise and an 
            understanding of commercial approaches to infrastructure 
            investment, and by promoting technological cooperation, 
            including through private-private and public-private 
            partnerships.
(x)         To promote the application of state of the art practices in 
            risk mitigation and management, including by promoting the 
            most effective use of private and public sector capacities.
(xi)        To promote transparent, predictable and accountable 
            procedures, including for bidding and selection processes, 
            and to encourage the use of international competitive 
            tendering.
(xii)       To ensure that infrastructure supports the achievement of 
            economic, environmental and social goals by incorporating 
            sustainable and equitable development principles in the 
            design and operation of infrastructure facilities.

Information and Consultation

    We recognize the importance of information in supporting the 
participation of the private sector, especially small and medium-sized 
enterprises, in infrastructure projects and commit to engaging the broad 
public in building on the outcomes achieved in key sectors such as 
information infrastructure, intelligent and integrated transportation 
systems, economically and environmentally sustainable energy 
infrastructure, sustainable cities, and infrastructure to support rural 
integration and diversification.
    To these ends, we call on Ministers:

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(xiii)      To improve the availability of information to support 
            participation in infrastructure investment by the widest 
            possible range of companies, including by small and medium-
            sized enterprises, both on a solicited and unsolicited 
            basis.
(xiv)       To foster effective consultations to ensure that planned 
            infrastructure meets our communities' needs.
    We direct the relevant Ministers to take the necessary measures to 
make good these declarations of intent with the express purpose of 
substantially and measurably increasing the participation of the private 
sector in infrastructure development in the APEC region and promoting 
infrastructure development in support of overall economic growth and 
development goals.