Italy
Private sector participation in public infrastructure and services projects is a relatively recent concept in Italy. However, the introduction of new project finance legislation in recent years has helped to change that. Today, Italy has an established track record in PPP and other forms of public service contracting, which includes projects in a range of sectors, from hospitals to housing, roads, rail and waste.
In 2000, the Italian government set up a dedicated PPP unit, the Unità Tecnica Finanza di Progetto (UFP), to help meet the challenges of public sector investment, and specifically, to help identify projects suitable for private sector involvement, and to provide specialist advice on PPPs. The creation of the UFP was heavily influenced by the UK Treasury's PFI taskforce, established in 1997, which became a precursor to Partnerships UK.
At project-level, the UFP plays an important role in project consultations. At a strategic level, it contributes to the broader development of the Italian PPP market.
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Privatization in Italy 1993-2002: Goals, Institutions, Outcomes and Outstanding Issues Goldstein, Andrea , 2003 CESifo working paper no. 912 Paper presented at the CESifo Conference: "Privatization Experiences in the EU". The CESifo Group comprises the Center for Economic Studies (CES), the Ifo Institute for Economic Research and the CESifo GmbH (Munich Society for the Promotion of Economic Research). Germany
Annual Report on Competition Policy Developments in Italy Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) Competition Committee, 2003 Italy
Italian Initiatives Coppin, Adrian, 2003 Currie & Brown Italy
Improving the Infrastructure de Pierris, Luigi, 2003 The PFI Journal An overview of PPP in Italy and of recent legislation that aims to improve the relationship between the public and private sectors. UK
Il ricorso alla finanza privata per la realizzazione di opere pubbliche - Introduzione alla Finanza di Progetto (PDF Format) Unita Tecnica Finanza di Progetto (UFP), 2002 UFP report on PPPs and project finance. Italy
Italian PPPs: an Update de Pierris, Luigi & Foschi, Monica, 2002 Infrastructure Journal UK
Italian PPP at a glance de Pierris, Luigi & Pescarini, Gabriele, 2001 Project Finance International UK
Italian PPPs - The development of a funding unit de Pierris, Luigi & Leone, Velia, 2001 Infrastructure Journal UK
Useful links:
Unita Tecnica Finanza di progetto UFP web portal, Last updated, 2005 Ministry of Finance website on PPP project financing, guidance, project updates and programs.