Getting Connected: Private Participation in Infrastructure in the Middle East and North Africa

This report, originally prepared for the Conference on Private-Public Partnerships in Infrastructure in the Middle East and North Africa (held in Istanbul, Turkey, in October 1996), analyzes the infrastructure needed for the region's economies to compete in global markets. Drawing on international best practice, it proposes new approaches to infrastructure provision based on unbundling monopolies, opening up services to private participation, and promoting competition for and in infrastructure markets. Recommendations are made about the new roles to be played and actions to be taken by the region's governments - with support from the World Bank Group - to reduce investor's perceptions of risk and ensure fair and transparent arrangements for awarding contracts and providing services. The report concludes with a summary of the proceedings of the Istanbul conference.