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Ghana needs to source funds from Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) to close the country�s medium-term annual infrastructure gap estimated at 2.5 billion dollars, Mr. Fiifi Fiave Kwetey, Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Planning (MoFEP), said on Thursday. He was speaking at the Second Annual National (PPPs) conference in Accra to increase participants� understanding and awareness of the PPP concept and how it could help in the rapid execution and growth of the country�s infrastructure and social needs. The conference, under the theme: �Public-Private Partnership for Social Services and Infrastructure,� was organized by the World Bank in collaboration with the Department for International Development (DFID). �History has proven that PPPs, when managed properly, can help close the infrastructure gap. Some international jurisdictions have used this approach extensively and realized tremendous benefits,� Mr Kwetey said. Alluding to international examples of beneficiaries of such economic partnerships, the Deputy Minister said countries such as Chile, USA and UK had used the PPPs approach to fill the infrastructure gap in their respective countries adding that Ghana needed to adopt and implement the concept. Mr. Kwetey said government had identified the bigger role the PPPs played in infrastructure and service delivery in the country as well as in accelerating its socio-economic development. �It is time to tap into the wealth of experience, knowledge and ready capital accumulated by those in the private sector,� he said. Mr. Kwetey called for political and regulatory mechanisms in order to effectively implement the PPPs concept in the country and stressed that policy development and stakeholder involvement was critical to the success of the concept. �Information should be shared at all levels and maximum focus should be maintained on institutional strengthening of the respective entities. This requires capacity building for civil servants in the appropriate framework and design of PPPs as well as adequate support for improving procurement capacity,� he said. Mr. Kwetey announced that the Ministry was putting in place structures to support a PPP take-off in the country at the national and local levels. He said a Project and Financial Analysis Unit had been established in the sector as an advisory unit within the Ministry, to assess and monitor investment projects as well as taking on the responsibility of PPP policy and its implementation within government. Mr John Dramani Mahama, Vice President, in a speech read on his behalf, noted that a growing economy, clean environment and strong prosperous communities were three areas of national importance that required strategic investment needed to build a strong economic foundation for the country. He said government was considering projects to be undertaken under the PPP framework such as intercity highways, rehabilitation of the rail network, development of educational facilities as well as provision of health and social services to create a Ghanaian infrastructure advantage. �The transition from direct public investment to PPPs requires the development of new attitudes. We need to modernize our traditional way of developing infrastructure and welcome the private sector as partners in development,� he said.