This presentation was made by Juliane JANSEN, OECD Secretariat, at the 11th Annual Meeting of the OECD Network of Senior PPP & Infrastructure Officials held at the OECD, Paris, on 27 March 2018

1. THE GOVERNANCE
OF MEGA
INFRASTRUCTURE
PROJECTS
-
Interim project report
Juliane Jansen
Budgeting and Public Expenditure
Public Governance and Territorial Development Directorate

2. OBJECTIVE:
Draw on good practice case studies and OECD principles to
develop more systematic support for policymakers for the
efficient, sustainable and transparent delivery of mega
infrastructure projects
DELIVERABLEs:
1. The definition of mega infrastructure projects and their
governance challenges.
2. Set of representative case studies of challenges and good
practices
3. Comprehensive, full policy cycle “checklist” of good practice
from design to delivery of the mega infrastructure
2
The Governance of Mega
Infrastructure Projects

3. 1. INTRODUCTION
Good governance as a necessary condition for good infrastructure delivery
Background: OECD and other work on infrastructure governance and mega
infrastructure projects
Policy checklist of good practices
2. THE GOVERNANCE CHALLENGE FOR MEGA INFRASTRUCTURE
PROJECT
Financial challenge
Technical and capacity challenge
Political challenge
Public challenge
3. CASE STUDIES
Background and key data
Key challenges
Good practices and lessons learnt
4. CONCLUSION 3
Structure of the Report

4. 4
Framework for the Governance of
Infrastructure
The OECD developed a Framework of 10 dimensions, including an outset of normative
recommendation, Key questions decision maker needs to address and Benchmark indicators
identifying enabling factors. Countries can use the framework to assess the adequacy of their
infrastructure management systems.
1. Develop a strategic vision for infrastructure
2. Manage threats to integrity
3. Choose how to deliver infrastructure
4. Ensure good regulatory design
5. Integrate a consultation process
6. Co-ordinate infrastructure policy across levels of
government
7. Guard affordability and value for money
8. Generate, analyze and disclose useful data
9. Make sure the asset performs throughout its life
10. Public infrastructure needs to be resilient.
Country Studies:
• Chile
• Suez Canal Economic Zone,
Egypt
• Norway
• Slovakia (forthcoming)

5. THE GOVERNANCE
CHALLENGE OF MEGA
INFRASTRUCTURE
PROJECTS
5

6. • Higher than usual costs  ensure
affordability and fiscal sustainability.
• Divert financial resources away from other
infrastructure projects safeguard value
for money.
• Potentially large cost overruns  sufficient
planning and preparation phase
• Involvement of private investors  risk
assessments and clear risks allocations
6
Financial challenge

7. • Technically challenging projects often
need long time for completion  need to
manage complexity and uncertainties.
• The uniqueness of large projects makes it
difficult to compare projects and learn
from each other  data collection
• For cross-jurisdictional high degree of
co-ordination and integration of rules
and regulation
7
Technical and capacity challenge

8. • Spill-over effects and transformational
impact  long-term planning and alignment
with long-term policy objectives
• Risk of political capture  clear and
transparent prioritisation criteria
• Relate to social and environmental
values that are not so easily captured in
monetary terms  broader set of costs and
benefits to capture envisaged social,
environmental and economic benefits
8
Political challenge

9. • Involve a broad range of different interests 
stakeholder involvement and
coordination
• Megaprojects can be controversial while at
the same time under high political and time
pressure  realistic consultation to
capture the public interest in a meaningful
way.
• Megaprojects can be particularly prone to
corruption  enforcement of integrity
measures and transparency
9
Public

10. • Oresundsbro Konsortiet (Great Belt, Øresund, Femern Belt):
Riskallocation in multi-national projects
• Gotthard Base Tunnel: long-lasting implementation
• In Colombia’s 4G Road Concession Program : institutional
innovation and strong institutional design
• Cross-Rail UK: long-term planning and preparation phase
• Tours–Bordeaux High-Speed Rail, France: large infrastructure
projects delivered via concession
• Melbourne to Brisbane Inland Rail: value for taxpayers in delivering
nationally significant projects via PPPs.
• New International Airport of Mexico City Project (NAICM):
(OECD, 2015) procurement, integrity and stakeholder engagement.
• …
10
Case studies

11. 11
Thank you!
Contact:
Juliane Jansen
Budgeting and Public Expenditure
Public Governance Directorate, OECD Paris
juliane.jansen@oecd.org
Ana Maria Ruiz
Budgeting and Public Expenditure
Public Governance Directorate, OECD Paris
AnaMaria.Ruiz@oecd.org

12. 12
Bibliography
• European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST)
(2011), The Effective Design and Delivery of Megaprojects in
the European Union,
http://www.cost.eu/COST_Actions/tud/TU1003.
• Flyvbjerg, B. (ed.) (2017), Oxford Handbook of Megaproject
Management, Oxford University Press.
• Gomex-Ibanez, J. (2003), Regulating Infrastructure -
Monopoly, Contracts, and Discretion.
• OECD (2015), Effective Delivery of Large Infrastructure
Projects: The Case of the New International Airport of Mexico
City, OECD Publishing, Paris.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264248335-en mark
• OECD (2017), Getting Infrastructure Right: a Framework for
Better Governance, OECD Publishing,
http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264272453-en.