I offer three recommendations for your consideration. We have found that these elements have been critical to creating successful public-private partnerships. They accelerate the achievement of development results, mitigate the risk of unintended consequences, and increase the likelihood of sustaining.
First, you need to have top support and incentives for partnerships. If people don't see it as part of what they are going to be evaluated on they're not going to do it—if it's a “nice to have”, but not a “must have” as part of that. I talk about how we have used incentives at USAID to do that.
Second is to create an easy on-ramp for partners so you become the preferred partner. You're the place people want to partner with. They want to bring their money and assets. Have candid discussions about the core competencies of each partner and their motivations. Also, as I said yesterday, don't fall in love with the deal. Be willing to walk away from it if you smell a rat or you don't think the objectives align sufficiently.
Third, we have three words we wake up with every day and go to bed with at night, not just on our public-private partnerships, but on everything we do. Focus on three elements for partnerships: impact, scale, and sustainability. If you don't think about those at the very beginning, they won't miraculously happen in a partnership or when the partnership is coming to an end.
In conclusion, I appreciate your thoughtful study of this issue over the last decade. I hope I've been able to provide some insight and assistance as you think it through. We look forward to learning from you as you move forward in this area as well.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.