Promoting a PPP in the Dominican Republic: When It Pays to Get There First

By the time a tender is published, most of the project is already defined. The interested company can only decide whether to compete under someone else's terms. Law 47-20 on Public-Private Partnerships opens a different door: proposing a solution for a public need to the State before any process exists. For construction companies, operators, and investors, that possibility allows them to take part in the project's conception; the price is committing resources when there is still no certainty of being hired.

I. THE WINDOW BEFORE THE TENDER

The private initiative is the mechanism through which a company submits, on its own account, a public-private partnership project to address a public need. It does not wait for the State to call for bids: it makes the proposal itself.

Article 37 of Law 47-20 is clear about the starting point: the initiative is submitted at the proponent's own account and risk, and the proponent bears the costs of its preparation and submission. At that stage, the proposal does not bind the State nor create, by itself, any right to a contract.

Read as a business matter, the article says something else: the door exists, but the key is paid for before anyone knows whether it opens.

II. WHAT THE ORIGINATOR CAN GAIN

The law grants concrete incentives to whoever manages to move an initiative forward. The main one is originator status.

One nuance that avoids costly misunderstandings: merely filing the proposal does not turn the proponent into an originator. Under Article 4.20 of Law 47-20, that status is tied to the declaration of public interest. From that stage onward, Article 40 governs the alternatives that may be pursued regarding the project and the rights associated with the originator.

Nor does the declaration of public interest reserve the contract for whoever conceived the initiative. If the project continues under this modality, the competitive process provided for by the law must be carried out. What the originator receives is a better position in that process — not the award.

III. DELAY AS A BUSINESS RISK

The private sector has used the mechanism: of the 26 initiatives registered by the DGAPP, 21 were submitted by private parties. Business criticism of PPP development in the Dominican Republic cannot therefore be attributed simply to a lack of interest. Companies have been willing to identify projects, prepare proposals, and assume the initial costs. The discussion shifts toward the time required to process them and the economic consequences that period can have on the investment already made.

When filing the PPP regime reform bill in August 2026, the Ministry of the Presidency noted that evaluation, bidding, and award processes can take between 24 and 76 months. The legislative proposal seeks to reduce them to a period of between 10 and 18 months. While the reform completes its legislative process, Law 47-20 remains in force and the progress of an initiative depends on decisions spread across different public bodies.

For a company that financed the initial structuring, several years of processing can alter the conditions on which the initiative was prepared: construction costs, interest rates, financing conditions, input prices, and projected demand all change. Studies that were technically sound when submitted may require updates before the procedure concludes.

A prolonged delay does not merely postpone the project: it can end up changing the economics of the project that was originally proposed.

IV. WHEN THE INITIATIVE HAS NO ROOM

The timing of submission can be decisive in another sense. Article 42 contemplates situations in which a private initiative may be ineligible because of its relationship with other projects or initiatives. Similarity is determined according to elements established by the law itself, including:

• the project's geographic scope;
• its destination;
• the main activity;
• the use of state assets;
• the impact it may have on another initiative.

Added to this is a prerequisite: private initiatives must refer to goods and services within the sectors the State has prioritized for this modality.

An infrastructure need may be obvious and a proposal may make economic sense without meaning that it can be processed under the conditions the investor envisions.

V. WHAT EXPERIENCE SHOWS

In March 2026, Panama signed a PPP for the rehabilitation, improvement, and maintenance over twenty years of the Panamericana Oeste Highway, with a Dominican company participating in the winning consortium. The scheme links payments to the road's availability and to compliance with performance indicators. The transaction shows the real dimension of these contracts: the private investor may remain bound for years to the financing, maintenance, operation, and performance of the infrastructure.

The Dominican Republic also has a track record of long-term private participation in infrastructure. The original Aerodom concession dates back to 1999. Under Law 47-20, the Puerto Duarte project, in Arroyo Barril, became the first PPP contract signed under the new regime.

Although they fall under different legal frameworks, these precedents show that the business analysis of an infrastructure project goes far beyond the construction phase and requires considering obligations that may last for decades.

VI. WHAT TO REVIEW BEFORE COMMISSIONING THE STUDIES

Before commissioning engineering, demand, financial feasibility, environmental impact, or economic structuring studies, it is worth determining whether there is legally room to promote the project:

• Does it meet the eligibility conditions and fall within the sectors prioritized for this modality?
• Are there initiatives or projects that could interfere with the proposal?
• Which public entity would have jurisdiction over the infrastructure?
• What obligations could the State assume?
• Is a PPP really the right modality for the project?

A preliminary legal review costs a fraction of what the full structuring of an initiative can cost, and it allows these checks to be made before committing substantial resources.

VII. PRACTICAL RECOMMENDATIONS

• Verify the legal room before spending on structuring. Eligibility, prioritized sectors, and competing initiatives can be checked with a low-cost preliminary legal analysis.
• File when the project is mature — not before, not after. The order of submission matters (Art. 38), but a weak initiative burns the position without any benefit.
• Model the worst-case timeline. If your business plan cannot withstand 24 months of processing, the pre-tender window is not your market.
• Document the studies from day one. Reimbursement of up to 2% of estimated capital expenditure depends on being able to prove the costs incurred.
• Review the tender documents before banking on the 2% to 5% advantage. The advantage operates within legal limits and as each tender document provides; it only applies once the technical evaluation is passed.

In this market, getting there first can have value. The question is determining when it is worth paying to get there earlier. Law 47-20 rewards the originator, but it charges admission up front: structuring, studies, and years of processing at your own expense. Whoever understands that arithmetic does not ask whether they can promote a PPP; they ask what it costs to do so and what they get if the contract ends up in other hands.

© Analysis prepared by Carlos Romero Polanco, Esq. | For further information, see Law 47-20 on Public-Private Partnerships and the reform bill filed in August 2026.