Bahrain Mirror: Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, issued Edict (30) of 2022, promulgating the issuance of a guide regulating public-private partnerships and assigned the Minister of Finance and National Economy to implement the provisions of the guide.

According to the edict, "the guide aims to enable the state to implement its public projects and operate them efficiently and effectively, to take advantage of the possibilities and expertise of the civil sector in providing the best services or supplying goods at the lowest cost, to ease the financial burden of the state budget, and finally to promote transparency and integrity in partnership with the private sector."

The guide consists of five chapters, the most important of which are: contract procedures, partnership contract provisions and supervision of the project implementation.

The government's "contracting administrative body" must submit the partnership project to the Ministerial Committee for Financial and Economic Affairs and Fiscal Balance for approval before the contracting procedures begin, in coordination with the Ministry of Finance and National Economy. 

The Tenders and Bids Board shall receive partnership tenders, open them, and issue award decisions after evaluation and completing negotiations with the applicant by the "contracting administrative body".

The guide also authorizes the establishment of a company whose exclusive purpose is to implement the partnership project in accordance with the Kingdom laws and the conditions of the "Ministerial Committee for Financial and Economic Affairs and Financial Balance". The project company may also impose, charge or collect a financial fee on the use of the partnership project facility or its services in accordance with the partnership contract.

The partnership contract must not exceed 15 years from the date of its conclusion or the date specified by the "contracting administrative body". The contract may be extended after the approval of the relevant ministerial committee.  

Arabic Version