The government is expected to sign agreements with the private sector on at least nine infrastructure projects worth some NT$22 billion (US$0.69 billion) to be completed this year, officials from the Ministry of the Interior reported yesterday.
According to the ministry's regulations, the private sector can participate in 20 categories of public construction projects, including sewage works, tourism facilities and new township developments.
As of Friday, the government had secured nine infrastructure projects by the private sector, including a sewage development and maintenance project in Tamsui in Taipei County, a tourism and recreational zone in Fenglin in Hualien County, and an ecological and wildlife conservation park in Kuanshan in Taitung County.
The government began encouraging private participation in public construction in 1994, and passed the Statute for the Encouragement of Private Sector Participation in Public Infrastructure Projects (促進民間參與公共建設法) in 2000.
The spirit of the law is to set the basis for the "build-operate-transfer (BOT)" model for the nation's infrastructure projects. The BOT model is aimed at introducing private investment and to allow private companies to work out efficient ways to deliver services at lower costs.
Last year, the government collaborated with the private sector on projects in Taitung County, as well as Kaohsiung's sewage and wastewater treatment.
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