From public-private partnership to public-private performance management

Across the Gulf, the role of the private sector in public services is becoming more structured. Saudi Arabia launched its National Privatization Strategy in January 2026, moving into an implementation phase with a stated ambition of more than 220 public-private partnership contracts and more than $64 billion of private-sector capital investment by 2030. In Dubai, Law No. 5 of 2026 established a formal framework for outsourcing government services to private contractors while keeping those services under the supervision and control of the relevant government entity.¹²

These are different instruments and they operate at different levels, but they point in a similar direction: governments are creating more deliberate ways to combine public-sector accountability with private-sector capital, expertise and operating capabilities. The interesting question is therefore no longer whether public and private organizations can work together. It’s how the partnership should be designed so that service quality, financial value and strategic objectives remain aligned after the contract is signed.

The partnership model is becoming more institutional

Saudi Arabia’s National Privatization Strategy is explicit about the shift. The strategy describes a transition from the foundational phase of its Privatization Program to an implementation phase focused on accelerating delivery. It targets 221 PPP contracts by 2030, $64 billion of private-sector capital investment and $11.5 billion of value for money from PPP transactions. The strategy also covers 18 targeted sectors and identifies five programs and 42 initiatives spanning opportunity prioritization, governance, human-capital development and implementation.²³

The UAE is taking a similarly institutional approach at federal level. The 2026 Federal Budget Yearbook describes the progression from the Federal PPP Law in 2023, to the PPP Manual in 2024, to the establishment of a PPP Department at the Ministry of Finance in 2025. The framework is intended to support governance and oversight, build federal-entity capabilities, improve public-resource efficiency and strengthen value for money. The federal government says it is creating a sustainable PPP framework for approximately 19 projects across health, energy and infrastructure, education, family, culture and sport.⁴

The significance is not the number of projects alone. It’s the move toward a repeatable system for identifying opportunities, testing them, structuring the commercial model and then monitoring performance over time. That makes partnership capability part of the public-sector operating model rather than a one-off procurement skill.

Outsourcing changes delivery, not accountability

Dubai’s March 2026 outsourcing law makes that distinction particularly clear. It defines outsourcing as a contractual arrangement in which a private contractor provides some or all of a government service on behalf of the government entity and under its supervision and control. The law’s objectives include improving service quality and efficiency, supporting customer access, encouraging competition and strengthening cooperation between the public and private sectors.¹⁵

At the same time, the government entity retains a set of important responsibilities. It must continue to provide approved digital channels, ensure customer needs are met, maintain access to financial information, verify that its own employees have the capacity to manage the outsourcing contract, and ensure that service delivery standards and the customer journey are maintained. The law also requires contracts to set out service levels, operational indicators, quality evaluation, financial and administrative monitoring, and continuity arrangements if a contract expires or ends.¹

This is an important distinction because the private partner can take responsibility for operating a service without taking responsibility for the public objective behind it. The government still defines the outcome, maintains oversight and remains accountable for the continuity of the service. The delivery model has changed; the public mandate has not.

The starting point should be the outcome, not the activity

Once delivery is shared, the definition of success becomes especially important. A partnership built around an activity can describe what the operator is required to do without being sufficiently clear about what the public entity ultimately wants to achieve. A partnership built around outcomes starts from the service standard, the customer experience and the measurable result, then defines how the operator can deliver them.

Dubai’s framework reflects this logic by requiring service levels, operational performance indicators, safety and security standards, quality evaluation and monitoring provisions within outsourcing contracts. The UAE’s federal PPP framework similarly places emphasis on service delivery effectiveness, output quality, implementation speed and measurable value for money.¹⁴

The practical question for a government entity is therefore straightforward: what should the citizen, resident, business or visitor experience when the service works well, and which measures best capture that experience? The answer may combine access, turnaround time, availability, quality, utilization, cost or customer satisfaction depending on the service. The point is not to create more metrics. It is to make the contract measure the things that matter.

Value for money is broader than the headline price

Public-private partnerships also require a longer view of economics. The UAE Ministry of Finance defines value for money in its PPP Manual by comparing the value generated or savings achieved through a PPP with the alternative of traditional procurement. The 2026 Federal Budget Yearbook distinguishes between quantitative value for money, such as direct operating or capital savings, and qualitative value for money, such as better performance, higher output quality and faster implementation.⁴⁶

That creates a more useful commercial lens than simply comparing bids. A partnership may create value through a combination of investment, operational efficiency, service improvement, speed or better asset utilization, but those benefits have to be credible over the life of the arrangement. The UAE framework therefore calls for detailed feasibility studies, financial analysis and value-for-money assessment before projects proceed.⁴⁶

The same principle is visible in Saudi Arabia’s strategy, which places value for money and long-term sustainability alongside service quality, fiscal sustainability and private-sector participation as explicit objectives.²³

Risk allocation is part of the strategy

The commercial design of a partnership also determines where different risks sit. The UAE PPP Manual calls for a risk-allocation matrix that sets out how risks are distributed between the government entity and private partner and uses that analysis to inform the appropriate PPP model. It also recognizes that the level of risk retained by government affects the structure and requirements of the contract-management function.⁶

This matters because transferring a responsibility is not the same as transferring the underlying ability to influence its outcome. Operational risks may sit naturally with an operator that controls the day-to-day service. Other risks may remain linked to regulation, policy or government decisions. A well-structured partnership makes those boundaries explicit rather than assuming that the word “private” automatically means that every risk should move outside government.

Government capability moves with the model

One of the most important features of the UAE and Saudi frameworks is the emphasis on government capability. Dubai’s outsourcing law requires the government entity to verify the competence and capacity of its employees to manage the contract effectively. The UAE Ministry of Finance says its PPP program includes specialized training, oversight mechanisms and support for detailed feasibility studies. Its PPP Manual calls for a dedicated contract-management function that covers ongoing administration, compliance, performance monitoring, customer satisfaction and coordination between the parties.¹⁴⁶

Saudi Arabia’s National Privatization Strategy has a comparable focus. Its implementation structure includes programs for human capital and knowledge management, effective governance and continuous management, with initiatives covering professional capability, service-level agreements, financial planning, risk management, knowledge sharing and impact measurement.³

The direction is clear: increasing private-sector participation does not remove the need for strong public-sector capability. It changes where that capability needs to sit. Government increasingly needs to be able to define the requirement, evaluate the economics, structure the relationship, monitor performance, manage interfaces and make informed decisions as the partnership evolves.

The contract is the beginning of the operating relationship

Long-term partnerships inevitably require more than procurement and signature. The UAE PPP Manual treats contract management as a distinct phase of the project lifecycle and describes ongoing administration, performance monitoring, dispute resolution and the establishment of contract-management teams. The Manual also notes that PPP arrangements can be long-term and complex, which makes continued oversight part of protecting the value of the partnership.⁶

Dubai’s law similarly provides for service continuity, quality assessment, financial and administrative monitoring, and termination or non-renewal arrangements. The contract is therefore designed not just to define the initial deal, but to give both sides a framework for managing the relationship over time.¹

That becomes especially important when circumstances change. A government may alter a policy direction, an operator may need to invest differently, technology may change the service model, or demand may evolve. The objective is not to remove all uncertainty from a long-term partnership. It is to make sure the governance model is strong enough to respond to it without losing sight of the original public outcome.

From operator to orchestrator

This is where the broader shift in the role of government becomes visible. Saudi Arabia’s strategy explicitly describes a stronger focus on legislative, supervisory and regulatory roles as private-sector participation expands, while still recognizing an operational role in strategic services. Dubai’s outsourcing framework similarly keeps government supervision, digital channels, financial oversight and service continuity within the public entity.²³¹

The result is not a simple move from government delivery to private delivery. It is a more distributed operating model in which public institutions increasingly have to coordinate regulators, operators, technology providers, financiers and service channels around a common objective. The more organizations involved in delivering a public outcome, the more important it becomes to define roles clearly and keep the customer experience coherent.

That is a positive development when the underlying governance is explicit. It gives governments access to private-sector capabilities while preserving strategic direction and public accountability. It also gives private partners clearer parameters within which they can invest, operate and innovate.

Five questions that keep the partnership focused

For organizations designing or expanding public-private delivery models, five questions provide a useful discipline.

First, what outcome is the partnership actually intended to improve? The objective should be specific enough to guide decisions and measurable enough to monitor.

Second, which responsibilities should sit with government and which should sit with the private partner? Clear boundaries reduce duplication and make accountability easier to manage.

Third, does the commercial model create credible value over the full life of the arrangement? This means looking beyond the headline price to investment, operating performance, service quality and longer-term financial effects.

Fourth, does the government entity have the capabilities needed to manage the relationship after award? Contract management, financial analysis, performance monitoring and stakeholder coordination are part of the operating model, not administrative extras.

Fifth, can the partnership adapt while keeping the public objective intact? Long-term arrangements need clear mechanisms for performance management, change, continuity and, where necessary, transition.

The next phase is about performance

The UAE and Saudi Arabia are building increasingly structured frameworks for public-private participation. Their current strategies and regulations put service quality, value for money, financial sustainability, governance and capability alongside the objective of attracting private capital and expertise.¹³⁴

The opportunity now is to make those elements work together consistently at project and portfolio level. A strong partnership is not defined simply by the presence of private capital or by the number of contracts signed. Its value comes from whether the arrangement delivers the intended service outcome, creates credible value over time and gives both sides enough clarity to perform their roles well.

That is the evolution from public-private partnership to public-private performance: government retains the strategic mandate, the private sector brings capital and operating capability where it makes sense, and the partnership is managed around a shared definition of performance.

Sources

1. Supreme Legislation Committee, Government of Dubai — Law No. (5) of 2026 Regulating the Outsourcing of Government Services in the Emirate of Dubai (12 March 2026) — official legislation covering governance, service levels, financial oversight, continuity, competition and government capability in outsourced services. dlp.dubai.gov.ae (opens in a new tab)
2. National Center for Privatization & PPP, Saudi Arabia — National Privatization Strategy launch (29 January 2026) — the transition to the implementation phase, more than 200 approved projects, nearly 90 signed contracts and the 2030 targets. ncp.gov.sa (opens in a new tab)
3. National Center for Privatization & PPP, Saudi Arabia — National Privatization Strategy (2025) — 2030 ambitions, objectives, governance programs, human-capital initiatives, impact measurement and the risk-management framework. ncp.gov.sa (opens in a new tab)
4. UAE Ministry of Finance — UAE Federal Budget Yearbook 2026 (March 2026) — the federal PPP framework, the value-for-money approach, oversight, capability building and the planned PPP portfolio. mof.gov.ae (opens in a new tab)
5. Dubai Protocol — “Mohammed bin Rashid issues law regulating outsourcing of government services in Dubai” (12 March 2026) — official summary of the law and its objectives. protocol.dubai.ae (opens in a new tab)
6. UAE Ministry of Finance — Manual on PPP Projects, Management and Execution (2024) — federal guidance on value for money, risk allocation, contract management, performance monitoring and contract-management teams. mof.gov.ae (opens in a new tab)

Written as a June 2026 perspective, using evidence published or in force by 30 April 2026 and deliberately excluding developments after that date. The analytical framing is TAIB’s own synthesis of the cited official material, not a restatement of any single source.