Critical Success Factors of Public-private Partnership (PPP) Projects in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Abstract

In a world where governments are looking at alternative ways of developing economies, infrastructure development remains a key aspect of these aspirations. For Middle East economies, which have relied on oil proceeds, the growth strategy is not as before as the oil prices have been fluctuating and resulting in low fiscal incomes. Saudi Arabia is one such economy. Thus, in the Kingdom's development strategy outlined in Vision 2030, there has been an emphasis on private players coming into partnering with the government in infrastructure and broader economic development projects. While the concept is easy on paper, running successful Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) projects is a complex endeavor given the conflicting interests of the partners themselves. This research investigated the critical success factors of PPP projects in Saudi Arabia based on the reflections of a quantitative study for infrastructure projects. For descriptive analysis, the entire population of participants (1200 respondents was used), and for the inferential statistics, a sample of 543 respondents was used in a Structured Equation Model tested on Smart PLS was used. The model tested critical success factors mediated by Openness and Communication and a multigroup analysis moderated by job level (representing the level of decision-making classified into strategic formulators - strategic level and above; and strategic implementers- operational managers). The models had an R2 of a stratified sample of 54.5% for the strategic level model and 45.9% for the strategic implementers model. Both models confirmed the importance of Procurement transparency, Risk sharing and allocation, Knowledge management. However, they had differences in the influence of governance, Openness and Communication and efficiency of the financial model. Governance had a significant influence on the success of PPPs only at the operational level while having a fully mediated relationship with Openness and Communication at the operational level. The study then produced two frameworks that are relevant for policymakers and potential private players to understand the relevant factors to be prioritised at each decision-making level to ensure the successful completion of PPPs in Saudi Arabia.