1. The Seminar on Legal, Economic and Implementation Issues in Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Projects, held in Warsaw on June 17-18, 2008, was jointly organized by the Ministry of Economy of Poland (MOE) and the World Bank (WB). The seminar’s main objective was to provide an exchange of experience between WB and other international experts and specialized staff of the Polish Government (including members of the PPP Working Group) in key aspects of the design and implementation of PPP projects in transport infrastructure and buildings (e.g., schools, hospitals).

2. The seminar provided an in-depth transfer of experience regarding legal, institutional, economic and implementation issues related to more private involvement in transport infrastructure (with emphasis on roads) and buildings, including maintenance, upgrading and new (“greenfield”) facilities. As indicated in the attached Agenda, topics addressed in the seminar included Competitive Selection of the Private Partners, Use of Standard Bidding Documents, Successes and Failures of PPP Projects, Performance Indicators of Transport Infrastructure PPP Projects, Combining PPP with EU Grants, Economic and Financial Feasibility of Building and Highway PPP Projects, Performance Indicators of PPP Projects for Buildings, PPP Perspectives from Private Investors, EU Funds and Cross Border Collaboration, UK PFI Contracts: Principles, Policy and Implementation, What Can We Learn from Failures: The Point of View of an Investor, and Screening of PPP Projects for Financial Feasibility.

3. In addition to WB staff, speakers included representatives from both the public and private sectors from France, Hungary, Denmark and UK.

4. Participation in the Seminar, with an attendance of over 30 persons, was on an invitation basis. The participants represented the Polish government, mostly members of the PPP Working Group, and included representatives of the Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Infrastructure, Ministry of Regional Development, Office of Competition and Consumer Protection, and Public Procurement Office.

5. The Seminar gave an opportunity for transportation and other professionals, both from government and the private sector, to exchange best practices, share innovations, explore lessons learned, and discuss implementation and research results.

6. The Seminar was opened by Mr. Adam Szejnfeld, Vice-Minister, MOE, and Mr. Oscar de Bruyn Kops, World Bank’s Country Manager. In his opening speech, Mr. Szejnfeld expressed satisfaction with the WB responsiveness in organizing the Seminar in such an expeditious way, thus contributing to the ongoing works on improving legal environment for PPPs in Poland. Both he and Mr. Kops expressed their gratitude to the speakers and participants for addressing a theme of high priority for the country.