From a public policy perspective, the prime objective of a PPP is that it should result in an improvement in the quality and efficiency of a given service to the citizen. At the same time, it would have the benefit of attracting private resources into public services, thereby allowing public money to be diverted into other critical areas and alleviating long-term pressures on public finances. As this section illustrates, these gains have in many instances not been realized and the performance and viability of PPPs varies greatly across activities and sectors. To ensure PPPs are an effective instrument of delivery of important services, such as infrastructure, it is critical that countries have an institutional capacity to create, manage and evaluate PPPs, especially in relation to other possible sources of funding. For a number of developing countries, this would require assistance from the international community in the form of technical support and capacity building.