Can Link the Institutional Design of Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) to International Policy Instruments lead to PPPs external effectiveness? An Examination of the Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation (GATF)

  • Sergio Martinez

Abstract

This paper examines whether linking the institutional design of public-private partnerships (PPPs) to international policy instruments lead to PPPs external effectiveness. To answer this question, I selected the Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation (GATF) as a study case. GATF is an emerging PPP aimed at making international trade simple, fast and cost-effective while creating new business opportunities, enabling greater economic and social development and reduc-ing poverty across developing and least developed countries. While GATF’s current projects are still in progress, it has reported tangible output results aligned with the partnership’s institutional design comprising a roadmap of outcomes and impact results intended over the forthcoming years. Through an exhaustive desk-review of GATF’s annual reports and a general-knowledge interview directed to GATF staff members, I argue that GATF’s institutional design linked to the World Trade Organization’s Trade Facilitation Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at-tributes this partnership a significant potential to reap impact effectiveness. By analyzing GATF’s institutional design features according to conceptualization perspectives on PPPs effectiveness, I found that GATF offers a suitable institu-tional design model to attain both external and policy implementation effectiveness. While publicly available infor-mation on GATF’s structure and progress up to date support my findings, I stated the need for empirical assessments on GATF’s performance after its delivery process. Overall, GATF offers a good institutional design model for PPPs aimed at enabling enticing business environments for harnessing trade and investment strategies to advance sustainable devel-opment projects across the world.
Published
2020-09-18
Section
Articles