Clear expressions of political commitment supported by action from higher levels of government will enable municipal champions to bring about change more rapidly and ease the process. This expression may be in the form of:
• policy statements, verbal and written commitments;
• development of private sector participation strategy;
• creation of task forces and vehicles to promote discussion and knowledge;
• establishing policy and enabling regulatory frameworks and institutional conditions that remove obstacles; and/or
• publication of rules and guidelines.
Some governments have created dedicated capacities to support private sector participation: The Philippine's BOT centre and South Africa's Municipal Infrastructure Investment Unit (MIIU) (described in Box 10.2) include private sector participation experts that advise participants and promote private sector participation. Such capacities help to highlight technical issues, raise awareness of private sector participation as an option, and cut across departmental and other divides. Such experts can advise local governments or enforce policy conditions, such as treasury requirements. Their ability to enforce such conditions is, however, restricted because their role is advisory and they have no fiscal hold over municipalities.