International lenders are expected to help fund healthcare public-private partnerships (PPPs) in Colombia, following their experience in the 4G highway concessions program, the head of the country’s development bank FDN said.
“They have the appetite,” CEO Clemente del Valle said at a conference organized in Bogotá by the city government’s health department. “They are going to want to do other things,” he added.
The Bogotá city government plans to grant six build and operate hospital PPP contracts, the first such partnerships in Colombia’s healthcare sector.
During his presentation, del Valle showed that international financing sources accounted for 24% of the COP13.2bn ($4.2bn) in financing mobilized so far for the 4G program. Local banks covered 48%, while institutional investors provided 18% and FDN put in 10%.
Del Valle said FDN could extend the 4G financing model to other infrastructure sectors, including healthcare, public transit and education.
The Colombian government worked for three years to make the 4G projects bankable, he added. “Now we have contracts that can be used as a standard,” he said. “It is going to be easier.”
Del Valle did not say if FDN will provide financing for Bogotá’s hospital PPPs.
LatinFinance traveled to Bogotá at the invitation of Invest in Bogotá.