As the Duterte administration nears its end, the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model plays a crucial role in realizing the administration’s flagship program, “Build Build Build”. The PPP Center of the Philippines, as the country's main driver of PPP program and project implementation, is managing and facilitating an increasing number of PPP initiatives. As of April 2020 – 167 PPP projects have been awarded and 56 national and local PPP projects are currently in the as reported by the Asian Development Bank. With the increased focus of the Philippine government to develop infrastructure and development projects across the country, especially at the local government level, the PPP Center launched its Local PPP Strategy which aims to provide intensified technical assistance in the development and implementation of local PPPs. One of the priority sectors of the Local PPP Strategy is water and sanitation given the existing obstacles to achieving universal and sustainable access to this basic need.

In the third leg of the Water Challenge Forum, the session will focus on the current PPP projects and new opportunities in the water sector. Participants will also be guided on how PPP Projects work and how companies can engage in these opportunities.

With the theme "Building Partnerships to Achieve Water Security" the ECCP 2021 Water Challenge Forum Series aims to provide an avenue for discussions on collaborative efforts of the water sector stakeholders to support the Philippines with its water challenges and achieve the goal of ensuring and sustaining water resources for future generations.