SELECTION COMMITTEES FOR PRIVATE PARTICIPATION IN INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS

07/01/2000

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The Public Construction Commission (PCC) recently drew up its Regulations Governing the Organization and Work of the Selection Com-mittees for Private Participation in Public Infra-structure Projects. The regulations are based on the principles set out in the Executive Yuan's Operational Guidelines for the Review of Ap-plications by Private-Sector Entities to Partici-pate in Public Infrastructure Projects. The main points are as follows:

The authority-in-charge of a government-

planned public infrastructure project should establish a Private Participation Selection Committee to consider applications from pri-vate-sector entities to participate in the project. The committee should comprise 7 to 17 members with specialist expertise or experi-ence relevant to the cases under application, to be appointed by the chief officer of the au-thority-in-charge. Experts and scholars hired from outside should not be less than half of the membership.

The authority-in-charge should establish a working group to assist the committee in its work. The members of the working group should be personnel of the authority-in-charge or specialist personnel, to be designated by the chief officer of the authority-in-charge or his delegate. The working group should prepare reports on applications in accordance with an approved working plan, covering the content designated by the committee, and should present such reports to the committee for its reference when examining applications. Where a report places applications in order of preference, the committee should either accept this order of preference in its decision, or an-notate the report with the reasons for rejection and return it to the working group for reap-praisal.

The selection process should be divided into two stages: preliminary eligibility assessment and overall assessment. According to the na-ture of the private-sector participation, these stages may be conducted successively or jointly. During preliminary eligibility as-sessment, the committee should select quali-fied applicants by reviewing eligibility documents and other information submitted by applicants as required by public an-nouncement.

Where necessary, consultation may be carried out at the overall assessment stage. Where such consultation is to be carried out, the committee should first make an initial as-sessment, and select a shortlist of not more than three preferred candidates, on the basis of the investment plans and associated docu-ments submitted by applicants, and in accor-dance with its selection criteria. After con-sultation, the committee should select a first-choice candidate from the shortlist; it may also select a second-choice candidate if necessary.

During overall assessment, the committee should select a first-choice candidate from among the qualified applicants selected in the preliminary eligibility assessment, on the basis of the investment plans and associated docu-ments submitted by applicants. The commit-tee may also select a second-choice candidate if necessary.

The minutes of committee meetings should be made public once the selection process is completed.