On 6 September, the Government of Uruguay signed the country’s first Education PPP contract which will create 59 new kindergartens and support centres for infants and families throughout the country.
Our team at Caledonian Economics helped develop the business case and technical specifications for this wonderful project.
On 18 May 2018 Martin Finnigan joined around 50 delegates at the Why Uruguay? event at Tower Bridge, London, organised by Uruguay XXI (the National Investment and Export Promotion Agency), the Department for International Trade, and the Embajada Británica Montevideo.
Presentations by representatives from Embassy of Uruguay in London, the British Chamber of Commerce in Uruguay and Uruguay XXI described the key strengths of the Uruguayan economy and explained the many incentives that make it an ideal hub for companies wishing to enter and trade throughout Latin America.
The main points we took from the event were:
• it was the first country in the world to provide laptop computers to all primary and secondary school pupils, and to all teachers. Smart Cities, Smart Towns and Smart Education concepts are at the heart of schooling. Language skills are good, all teachers have access to English tuition and a significant number of Portuguese speakers helps companies trade with Brazil;
• the country has high standards of transparency, strong institutions and is committed to investment in knowledge: facts I can relate to in my own experiences working in Uruguay;
• income per person is the highest in Latin America and Uruguay’s fifteen straight years of GDP growth far outstrip the performance of its massive neighbours, Brazil and Argentina;
• the country has implemented strategies that make it a very attractive location for companies seeking to establish a hub for goods and services in the region. Examples include excellent internet connectivity, free ports and free airports, no restrictions on repatriation of profits, no discrimination between overseas and domestic investors, unrestricted forex market, single taxation system throughout the country, and slick procedures for setting up a company.
For our part, it is good to see that the Education PPP program, which we helped develop, has recently issued invitations to tender for the fourth bundle of schools.
On October 9 and 10 2017, Martin Finnigan participated an inter-institutional seminar on Control and Monitoring of PPP Contracts, at the invitation of Ministry of Economics and Finance of the Government of Uruguay and the British Embassy.
Presenting alongside Dr. Patricia Benavente (Peru) and Inspector of the Contract of UPPL No. 1 Bernardo Vidal (Uruguay), I delivered two sessions that explained the relevance of the Scottish PPP experience to Uruguay.
The event was attended by over 50 professionals with an interest in PPP in Uruguay including central government agencies, service delivery bodies, investors and funders.
I developed a theory of the forces the drive the evolution and development of PPP in an economy, and noted how managing a PPP pipeline demands the ability to adapt to foreseeable changes in the external environment, and cope with unexpected ones.
I also identified lessons we have learned in Scotland over 20 years of PPP, and interpreted these in the Latin American context. Finally, I presented our report on the management of operational PPPs in the social infrastructure sector.
Scotland and Uruguay have much in common including a strong ethic of equality and social justice.
As Uruguay begins a programme of school PPP projects, Martin Finnigan was invited by Sunny Sky Solutions to give his thoughts on what this charming Latin American country might earn from the Scottish experience.
Click here to read more.
Escocia y Uruguay tienen mucho en común, incluyendo una fuerte ética de igualdad y justicia social.
Mientras Uruguay comienza un programa de proyectos APP escolares, Martin Finnigan fue invitado por Sunny Sky Solutions a dar sus pensamientos sobre lo que este encantador país latinoamericano podría ganar de la experiencia escocesa.
Haga clic aquí para leer más.
Education PPP seminar
This October with Maria Jimena Cordoba from Castalia we provided a Education PPP training workshop for Uruguayan government agencies including Corporación Nacional de Desarollo (CND), Administración Nacional de Educación Pública (ANEP) and the Institute for Children and Adolescents (INAU) in Montevideo. The workshop covered international experience with Education PPP and management of PPP contracts.
We also delivered a presentation on best practice in Education PPPs at a breakfast briefing event in Montevideo organised by the Inter-American Development Bank, the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF) and the World Bank to promote the forthcoming Uruguay Kindergarten PPP project.
Approximately 100 delegates from across the Uruguayan PPP industry heard our presentation which described the Scottish experience of Education PPP over the last twenty years.
Working with Castalia Strategic Advisers and with support from the Inter-American Development Bank we advised the Government of Uruguay and Corporación Nacional para el Desarrollo (CND) on the development of financial and technical aspects of the Uruguayan early years education PPP programme. This will create up to 60 kindergartens and family support centres to support the national poverty reduction and social inclusion policy.
Our responsibilities included project financial modelling, international best practice studies and the development of bespoke technical documentation which drew on our extensive experience of PPP transactions and implementation.
