Growth & Jobs Embrace private-public transactions - Arana

Denise Arana, general manager of public-private partnerships and privatisation services (P4s) at the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ), is urging investors, in addition to every citizen, not to be scared of P4 transactions, but to embrace them as springboards for economic development and growth.

In giving a perspective on the role of the DBJ in the privatisation of the Norman Manley International Airport and other private-public partnerships over the years, the general manager said her organisation, along with the Government of Jamaica, is constantly finding ways to build and enhance their capacity to engage the private sector, in addition to making sure that Jamaicans benefit.

"In terms of the operations that the Government privatises sometimes, a lot of times they are loss-making, but not all the time and so we need to make the point very clear that it is not only loss-making entities that are privatised. It's clear, however, that when you privatise a loss-making entity then it reduces the drain on the limited fiscal resources that the Government has," she said.

"We have an excellent team. We have had several years of experience managing transactions, and I want to be very clear that the Government of Jamaica has had significant capacity-building efforts since 2009. We have done a lot of training and we have gained practical experience in completing complex transactions, such as the Kingston Container Terminal, the Norman Manley international Airport, among others," she continued.

QUALITY OF LIFE

Arana also said it is important to note that when the country achieves its economic growth objective, it is in a better position to serve individuals. Arana indicated that there is no way Jamaicans can live an excellent quality of life when there is no economic growth.

"One of the direct benefits when Government get revenue from these types of transactions, it can be used to pay down debt. Another objective is also to widen the ownership base in the economy; so, for example, the Wigton (Farm) transaction will achieve that because we are giving every Jamaican a chance to own shares in a very profitable enterprise which was once owned by the Government," she said.

"Privatisation also mobilises private-sector investment in the economy. One of the things that the minister had stressed, in addition to us looking at every single transaction as an opportunity to broaden the ownership base, he is also saying to us that we need to seriously create investment opportunities for the capital that is out there; so it's deepening and stimulating the local capital markets as well," Arana said.