The execution of public-private partnership projects in the UAE

There are few public-private partnership (PPP) projects in the UAE, but the number is increasing. Recently government and public bodies have intensified their interest in PPPs to encourage more involvement of the private sector in the country's development. The aim of the research is to evaluate the UAE experience in using PPP projects focusing on the critical success and failure factors for PPPs in the UAE. Three case studies were examined to identify the critical success factors and the failure factors. The results have shown that political support is the most important success factor followed by having a strong private consortium. The most important factor that causes PPP projects to fail in this context is when the consortium lacks the appropriate knowledge and skills. Hence, private consortia need to ensure that they assemble the relevant skills and knowledge of how to set up and manage a PPP as well as the crucial knowledge pertaining to the local business environment and political drivers.