Ambassador Promotes Public-Private Partnerships

Ambassador Promotes Public-Private Partnerships

October 30, In her speech to representatives of the Salvadoran Construction Industry Association (CASALCO in Spanish), U.S. Ambassador Mari Carmen Aponte highlighted the importance the construction sector in El Salvador’s economic growth and the need for strong public-private partnerships as a prerequisite for a second compact with the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC).

In her remarks, Ambassador Aponte praised CASALCO’s work with the government to promote the Law on Streamlining Construction Procedures. "You are an example of the potential that exists with greater coordination and less fighting between the government and the private sector,” she said.

Ambassador Aponte also noted that a new law to coordinate the efforts of the public and private sectors is still pending. “Public private partnerships are fundamental to the vision of Fomilenio II. This project is much more complicated than a highway in the north, and requires such laws to realize its vision, a vision that seeks to bring inclusive growth to El Salvador’s coastal communities." Public-private partnerships make possible the work between the government and private companies, in which they use their own strengths and resources, and create institutions that work for the benefit of the community.

During his introduction, CASALCO Chairman José Carlos Guerrero remarked that, "the United States has impacted both economic and social areas of ​​El Salvador, which makes us deeply grateful for the special interest [the U.S. has] in developing the economy of our population."

Guerrero stressed the importance of the relationship between the United States and El Salvador in terms of identifying key issues and barriers to growth, and unifying the efforts of governments and international donors to eliminate these barriers under the Partnership for Growth, which was signed by both countries last year.