PPP The Right Marriage between Local Government and the.pdfVIP

142 Kuppusamy Singaravelloo International Journal of Institutions and Economies Vol. 2, No. 2, October 2010, pp. 142-166 PPP: The Right Marriage between Local Government and the Private Sector in Malaysia? Kuppusamy Singaravelloo1 Faculty of Economics and Administration University of Malaya Email: kuppusamy_s@.my Abstract : Public-Private Partnership has been employed in some local governments in Malaysia for some time in real estate development making local authorities a key player in the economic development of cities. However, little research exists on both the implementation of such projects and the evaluation of the governance procedures. This paper seeks to fill this gap by examining the working arrangement between selected local authorities and developers in striking a win-win situation. Towards this end, the paper examines the working arrangements between two local authorities and developers in Batu Pahat and Kuantan, as well as the subsequent post- project developments. The two cases in Kuantan exemplify successful partnerships that still exist while the third in Batu Pahat illustrates a failed partnership. Keywords : local government, public-private partnership, privatization JEL classifications : H77, O21, R11, R58 1. Introduction Public-private partnership (PPP) has existed in Malaysia, at least since the mid-1980s under joint-venture arrangements between loc