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'Public-private partnership here to stay'

A Correspondent in New Delhi

The concept of an effective public-private partnership for taking up developmental goals is now a reality, and it is increasingly being accepted by governments and even by international organisations.

This was the shared outcome of a workshop on 'Public-private partnership: Creating an Indian model' at the India Economic Summit 2002, organised jointly by the Confederation of Indian Industry and the World Economic Forum.

Participants at this workshop, which included CEOs, NGO leaders, and senior executives from international agencies, felt however, that it was important to strengthen this partnership by documenting best practices, and by companies' sharing management time and skills with NGOs, more than money.

NGOs also needed help in scaling up their projects, and here too companies could provide skills.

Mirai Chatterjee, co-ordinator, Self-Employed Women's Association, added that NGOs also needed help in marketing and distributing their products. Companies could also help NGOs in fostering the development of micro-enterprises.

Maurice Dewulf, senior deputy resident representative, United Nations Development Programme, India said that the concept of a public-private partnership was increasingly used by international development organisations in meeting the development goals set by the United Nations Millennium Summit.

Speaking at this workshop, Poonam Khetrapal Singh, deputy regional director, South East Asia Regional Office, World Health Organisation, New Delhi and Seth Berkley, president and chief executive officer, International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, USA jointly emphasized the need for companies to reach out and provide health cover not just their employees but also their suppliers and other business partners.

Investing in the health of these partners would increase their productivity, which would benefit businesses. In this, they felt that CII had a major role to play in this, perhaps in partnership with the WHO.

Patrick Siewert, president, East and South Asia Group, The Coca-Cola Company, Hong Kong SAR said that it would make sense for foreign companies to price their products in India lower than elsewhere to make them more affordable to India and to reduce the potential for piracy.

Finally, everyone agreed on the need for a regular dialogue between the private sector, government, and NGOs on concrete issues.

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