The Toolkit is made up of eight modules. The first of these, this framework module, sets the stage for all of the other modules that follow. It provides a unifying “decision framework” that policy makers can use to guide them step-bystep through the processes of reforming and reinventing port institutions. It also provides a common language and a set of concepts that are used throughout the Toolkit and that represent the common language port reformers use in communicating with their various constituencies. Importantly, the Framework Module also includes a road map for the other modules that follow. It explains the interrelationship of these modules with one another, and their relevance to the framework presented here.
This module lays out an ordered set of decisions that are linked together functionally as well as temporally. For each decision, the Toolkit attempts to articulate the principal options and alternatives available to policy makers and assesses the expected consequences associated with each option based on recent international experience. The framework is presented in the form of a “decision tree” that provides a context for understanding the subsequent modules, which are summarized briefly below.
A wider range of reform models and public-private partnership formats exists for the delivery of port services than for any other infrastructure- intensive service sector. This is because the ensemble of services provided by seaports is vast and requires more diverse and specialized skills and involves more categories of service than other public-private institutions. Although the Toolkit does not elaborate on all models available to sector reformers, it does define the options on either end of the public-private spectrum as well as the most common risk-sharing arrangements, such as concessions and terminal operating leases. Importantly, it also provides tools for assessing hybrid options and for understanding their merits and risks.
In dealing with reform in the port sector, the World Bank has tried to pool knowledge from around the world. This knowledge is abundant: over the past 13 years, more than 200 transactions have been completed that involve increased private sector participation in the port sector (see Box 3 and Box 4). The problem confronting public policy makers when they take up the challenge of port reform is not a lack of information, but rather a lack of useful knowledge to help them navigate through their own process of reform.
The Toolkit uses a diversity of communication media to convey knowledge and insight to its users, including narrative text, mini case studies, graphics, and stylized representations of decision processes. The World Bank’s objective is to provide a comprehensive, easy-to-use tool for port reform.
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