The demand for training grows as more and more civil servants consider or develop public-private partnerships projects, the Efficiency Unit says.

Since April 2004, it has organised 11 training seminars for them on different aspects of public-private partnerships and outsourcing. More than 1,200 civil servants participated in the sessions.

Nearly 140 civil servants and private-sector representatives attended a one-day seminar entitled "Introduction to Public-Private Partnerships" the unit organised today.

It aimed to provide basic understanding of key public-private partnerships concepts such as risk allocation, project financing, legal issues, and establishing a business case.

Public-private partnerships differ from privatisation and they are not about transferring benefits, said the unit's Deputy Head David Pao.

"For all public-private partnerships projects, we stipulate the required project outcomes and monitor the contractors' performance throughout the life of the contract. All these projects go through a stringent, open, transparent and competitive procurement process with selection based on merit and value for money," he added.