Dubai Land Department (DLD) organised the Global Consultations on Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) in Land Administration in collaboration with the World Bank. During the two-day consultation, nearly 50 global consultants, specialists, and experts in the field of real estate participated to exchange knowledge between different global experiences in PPPs in the real estate sector.

HE Sultan Butti bin Mejren, Director General of DLD, said: “DLD partnered with the World Bank to organise the Global Consultations on PPPs in Land Administration which will contribute to the exchange of knowledge between different international experiences in PPPs in the real estate sector through the participation of international consultants and experts.”

Bin Mejren stressed the importance of the consultation in promoting real estate work and land administration between the public and private sectors, and the need for all parties working in this sector to cooperate in order to provide expert specialised advice, elevating the quality of real estate practices and services for the benefit of all customers and individuals.

The consultation aimed to gather critical insights from the government on the challenges to implementing PPPs in land administration, understand the commercial appetite of the private sector and their expectations and perceptions of risk, and review and provide feedback on preliminary tools developed to facilitate PPPs in land administration.

Anna Wellenstein, Director of Global Practice, Urban, Rural, and Land at World Bank Group; and Dr Wael Zakout, Senior Technical Advisor for Land and Geospatial Issues, participated in the consultation.

Participants agreed that PPPs for land administration generated considerable interest and are a key mechanism to rapidly address the deficit of affordable and efficient land administration services in many emerging economies. Dubai has been selected as a venue to organise this important international consultation in recognition of its outstanding expertise in land regulation and of its ability to mobilise support and global recommendations for land regulation policies that enable relevant segments to gain access to their needs at affordable costs.

According to the reports presented by the speakers, 70% of the world's population does not have access to affordable land administration services, which impacts individual tenure security as well as restricts private sector investment and development.

PPPs have successfully launched in sectors like that of water and electricity, yet remain poorly understood in the land sector, especially in emerging economies. This consultation will be the first of its kind to explore this innovative theme and will provide an early opportunity for the public and private sectors to network together. A key focus will be the development of fundamental tools that will best enable governments and the private sector to move quickly and effectively in establishing future PPPs.

The Global Land and Geospatial Unit (GSULN) of the World Bank contracted a consultancy to develop knowledge in relation to PPPs in land administration. The objective of the assignment is to develop analytical and operational tools to inform the development of public-private partnership (PPP) schemes for the provision of land administration services in developing countries.