Puerto Rico targets 6 public-private deals in '09

SAN JUAN, June 19 (Reuters) - The Puerto Rico government will soon activate a new Public Private Partnership Authority and aims to have six PPP projects underway by year's end, according to the head of the Government Development Bank.

"The government is looking to jolt the island out of its three-year-old recession and is seeking PPP investment in infrastructure projects like highways, mass transportation, and renewable energy projects," GDB President Carlos Garcia said.

Puerto Rico officials hope to complete the first projects over the next five years, creating 23,000 direct jobs and as many as 100,000 indirect jobs, as a way to offset massive government layoffs, weak government revenue and double-digit unemployment rates that currently stand at 25-year highs.

The head of the U.S. commonwealth's fiscal agent, Garcia has acknowledged that investment capital for PPPs was limited as the global credit system thaws but said he believes Puerto Rico's new laws setting ground rules will add luster to what should be attractive infrastructure concessions.

Garcia said he anticipates six projects will win approval by year's end and will be culled from 28 strategic infrastructure projects, which the government estimates may need as much as $7 billion in capital.

"Investors are looking for opportunities. Puerto Rico is an option for them," Garcia said in an interview on Tuesday. "There will be interest."

In addition, agency secretaries have 90 days to propose potential projects to the authority.

The strategic projects are spread across the island and include five highway extension projects, development of the port at the former U.S. Navy base in Ceiba and completion of a huge transshipment port in Ponce in the south.

Another proposal focuses on an area adjacent to a city rail system in the capital, San Juan.