A hybrid fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making model for prioritising risk mitigation strategies in deep-sea port public-private partnerships

Public private partnership has been broadly accepted as an effective practice to resolve funding issue for large-scale infrastructure projects, especially in many developing countries. Both research and practices emphasise the government's role in risk mitigation through direct and indirect tools. Few studies have examined the prioritisation of risk mitigation strategies associated with risk factors. Hence, this study proposes a hybrid fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making framework to prioritise risk mitigation strategies, integrating criteria importance through inter-criteria correlation (CRITIC) and multi-attributive border approximation area comparison (MABAC) approaches. Laem Chabang Port III expansion project in Thailand is used as a case study. This study indicates that 'political and regulatory risk', 'land acquisition risk' and 'public opposition risk' are the three most important risk factors. Also, 'appropriate allocation and sharing risk' is ranked as the most important risk mitigation strategy. The results would assist government and port concessionaires to implement risk mitigation strategies in stepwise manners.