The public sector sometimes failed to recognise the private sector’s need to make profits out of public private partnerships, Andrew Burns told a public financial management conference in Islamabad.

He also said the private sector could struggle with public sector scrutiny put on these arrangements but transparency was a necessity, he added, at the conference being run by The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan in conjunction with CIPFA.

“The importance of openness, transparency and good governance needs to sit at the heart of public private partnerships – and you can’t pretend that they aren’t subject to those scrutiny arrangements,” Burns, who has 20 years of PPPs expertise, told delegates.

“The private sector needs to understand that, but equally the public sector needs to understand the need to make profits to make them sustainable.”

Andrew Burns talks PPP - values and vision of public and private sectors need to be aligned for success. We need PPP with public consciousness... pic.twitter.com/A7oUbgvd2a

— Gillian Fawcett (@GillianFawcett1) 8 May 2018

He explained PPS were about “being commercial with a conscience” and to “do public good”.

He added these partnerships have shown to work really well on big infrastructure projects where there’s a clear transfer of risk and what expertise the private sector is bringing in.

CIPFA’s Gillian Fawcett, head of international affairs, spoke about developing public sector capacity to ensure good governance and public financial management, at the conference.

She stressed that professionalisation of PFM leads to better outcomes for citizens.

The importance of capacity building can be seen in Zimbabwe, where CIPFA  and IFAC are helping the government improve capacity to move from cash-based accounting to accruals, she said.

The conference also had a session on fighting fraud and corruption in public services and on the implementation of integrated reporting in the public sector.

This is ICAP’s third public financial management conference with CIPFA, where professionals discuss and debate key issues in creating sustainable, transparency and accountable government practices.

The aim of the conference is to showcase good governance and how PFM can underpin “all facets” of public sector activity in the world, ICAP said.

The day-long conference was live streamed and can be watched here.