Chile

Chile’s PPP framework remains anchored in its long-standing concessions regime, governed by the Public Works Concessions Law (consolidated in Decree 900/1996) and its implementing regulation (Decree 956/1997).^1,2 The General Directorate of Public Works Concessions (DGC), a specialized agency within the Ministry of Public Works, oversees concession development, procurement and contract management, supported by dedicated technical departments.³ The Concessions Council, an advisory body within the Ministry of Public Works, reviews proposed concession projects and the DGCOP’s five-year concessions plan, providing an additional layer of scrutiny over project selection and planning.⁴

Chile continues to maintain an active concessions market while expanding beyond its traditional concentration in transport. The Ministry of Public Works announced a 2025-26 portfolio of 15 potential concessions representing approximately US$7.9bn in investment, spanning highways, airports, rail and cable-car transport, and penitentiary infrastructure.⁵ Recent financial closes also demonstrate continued investment in Chile’s longstanding hospital concessions program, including approximately US$415m in financing secured for the four-hospital Los Ríos-Los Lagos portfolio in 2025.^6,7 These developments build on the 2022-26 infrastructure program, which sought to broaden the concessions portfolio into areas such as desalination while sustaining investment in transport and social infrastructure.⁸

Chile’s concessions model has retained broad political support across successive administrations. The previous administration (2022-26) maintained an extensive concessions program and launched the National Public Infrastructure Plan 2025-2055, emphasizing public-private collaboration in long-term infrastructure development.⁹ The administration that took office in March 2026 likewise identified concessions and PPPs among its priorities, within a broader infrastructure portfolio of more than 60 initiatives.¹⁰ Support extends beyond the executive branch, with a Senate committee advocating concession delivery for specific transport projects.¹¹ Although debate persists over highway tolls and individual concession decisions,¹² this has not translated into broad opposition to the concessions model.

Chile leads the region in risk management and contract monitoring, with particularly strong arrangements for risk allocation, contingent liabilities, contract management and ongoing project reporting. It also ranks 2nd in regulations and institutions, reflecting clear institutional responsibilities, a capable PPP agency and highly competitive procurement processes. Chile also ranks 2nd in performance evaluation and impact, supported by a mature project portfolio and strong monitoring of infrastructure quality, although formal ex-post evaluation remains less comprehensive.

Project preparation and sustainability remains Chile’s main relative weakness, despite several strong underlying practices. Project selection lacks a formal value-for-money methodology, contributing to a 13th-place regional ranking for economic principles in project selection. Social-equity criteria also remain incomplete despite recent progress on inclusion and gender considerations. Meanwhile, Chile lacks a general PPP requirement for project-level environmental risk analysis despite some provisions for climate risk management, a notable gap in its otherwise region-leading approach to risk management.

Chile has made targeted progress since the previous edition, particularly in project transparency and sustainability. Since June 2025, updated procedures have required new concession projects entering the National Investment System to have standardized records and supporting documentation in its Integrated Project Bank, improving project traceability.¹³ The Ministry of Public Works’ 2024-30 sustainability policy has also strengthened its approach to social inclusion and gender equality in infrastructure development, while enhanced sustainability requirements in bidding documents contributed to the Alto Hospicio-Iquique cable-car project securing Climate Bonds certification for its plans and designs in 2025.^14,15