57. Laws influence the private sector significantly in its assessment of whether to become involved in the provision of municipal solid waste management services. Reputable private companies want to have "a level playing field," in which they can compete equitably, fairly and with minimal risk. For example, before private companies will invest in building, owning, and operating a sanitary landfill for public use, they will want environmentally sound, safe disposal practices to be required by law and enforced by penalty. Before spending money on the development of bid documents in response to government procurements, companies will want assurance that government will follow procurement regulations governing fair competition.

58. Countries that have experienced colonial influence may have old laws from colonial powers that have little relevance to today's needs but which take precedent legally. Indonesia has recognized this as an obstacle to its privatization program and has been aggressively redrafting its regulatory framework in recent years. To complicate matters, only about 20 percent of Indonesia's procurement staff have full sets of the laws that guide them. Because they rely on verbal communications for their understanding, there is a high degree of variability in how the laws are applied. Current training programs on procurement are directed at correcting this problem.

59. Few developing countries have domestic, private companies with expertise in municipal solid waste management. For foreign firms to take an interest in participating in municipal solid waste service in such a country, an attractive environment for foreign investment needs to be created. This would necessarily include the local recognition of the value of and need for expertise that foreign firms could contribute.

60. Although developing countries legally restrict foreign ownership in the joint venture to only a minority share, these countries do not protect against liability for nonperformance of a local partner. Laws in many developing countries restrict the ownership of indigenous land or other property, limit the immigration of foreign professionals needed for technology transfer to the local counterparts, prohibit repatriation of profit and repayment on investment capital, and demand high compensation to be paid to workers that are fired for nonperformance or at the end of a contract period (2, 11). At the same time, there are few, if any, laws that protect a private firm from nonpayment by government for services rendered.