The 7th UNECE Public-Private Partnership Forum discussed a number of current and emerging challenges and opportunities at the global, national and urban levels.
The forum co-organized by UNECE and the Athens municipality titled “Halfway to 2030: PPPs for the SDGs as catalysts for digital and green transformations in support of sustainable development, economic recovery and reconstruction” took place in Athens, Greece from May 3rd to May 5th, 2023.
Economic Scientific Research Institute (ESRI) was represented at the Forum by Chair of the Board of Directors, Mahir Humbatov, Leading Research Fellow of Department of Quality Control and Planning, Shukur Guliyev, and Research Fellow of Department of Analysis of Digitalization, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Policy, Abbas Mammadli.
The forum discussed a number of current and emerging challenges at the global, nation and urban levels, green and digital transformations in PPP contributing to SDGs, as well as infrastructure projects. Also, among the issues discussed were identification of solutions via public-private partnerships for post-conflict reconstruction and economic restoration, transition to circular economy and green public-private partnership procurement fields for sustainable public-private partnerships.
As part of the forum chair of the Board of Directors of ESRI held a number of bilateral meetings with various Forum participants:
- Chief of Cooperation and Partnership Section of Public-Private Partnership Secretariat of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), Tony Bonnici;
- Chair of Istanbul Public-Private Partnership Centre for Excellence, Eyup Vural Aydin;
- Director of Public-Private Partnership Centre of Kyrgyz Republic, Sanzhar Bolotov;
- Chair of the Board of the Ukranian PPP Centre Irina Zapatrina;
- CEO of “PPP Investment Ltd” and “Smart Energy Investment Kft” Obrad Tadic;
- Regional Manager for IFC’s Public-Private Partnership Division in Europe, Mehita Fanny;
- Senior Advisor for the International Sustainable and Resilience Centre, David Baxter.
During the meetings the parties exchanged views around the capacity building of PPP, development and financing of PPP projects, improvement of academic and practical sources in the Azerbaijani language.
Also, the publication of the book in Azerbaijani language on PPP, hosting in Baku of international and interstate event on the topic of PPP in October of 2023, and holding of a forum jointly organized by the UNECE and the ESRI in Baku in the first quarter of 2024 were proposed in the course of the meetings.
