‘Three cases of cooperation between the Ministry of Economic Affairs and LNG related firms on the import of LNG’

This research scrutinises the public private cooperation between the Ministry of Economic Affairs and LNG related firms in three workgroups, targeting three LNG exporting countries (Algeria, Angola and Qatar). The research focuses on the process of cooperation and the management of expectation. The theoretical background used for analysing the three workgroups and provide a prescriptive conceptual framework are based on Easton’s system model (1965a) (1965b) and the model of Schulz, van Twist and Geveke (2006), who define four stages in the process of cooperation in the case of committees. The conceptual framework adjusts the existing literature in order to analyse and prescribe the process of cooperation in the case of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and LNG related firms. The management of expectations is integrated in this process of cooperation, based on the theory of Klijn and van Twist (2007b). The main research question relates the management of expectations to the process of cooperation in the three workgroups: ‘‘How can the Ministry of Economic Affairs manage expectations of cooperation when applying Schulz’ model to the case of the process of cooperation between the Ministry of Economic Affairs and LNG related firms in order to realise LNG import ambitions from Algeria, Angola and Qatar?’ The conceptual framework has provided the theoretical background to analyse and prescribe the process of cooperation between the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the LNG related firms. Schulz’s model has been revised in order to analyse the management of expectations during the process of cooperation. Here, the second stage of the conceptual framework, which involves the goal setting and partner selection, offers the opportunity for the Ministry of Economic Affairs to ‘think double’: the Ministry of Economic Affairs is able to play two roles in the three workgroups, as facilitator and as stakeholder. Now, the Ministry of Economic Affairs knows what the LNG related firms expect from the Ministry of Economic Affairs. Not only at the process level, which aims at the facilitating role of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the process oriented role of the workgroups with a mediation and assisting goal, but also at the project level the Ministry of Economic Affairs should provide solutions for the LNG related firms to stimulate the LNG related firms