La continuidad del fundamentalismo religioso estadounidense

The Palestinian Authority has traditionally had a long and deep- seated conviction in the leading and complementary role of its private sector in meeting the aims of economic development. The consultation between the government and the private sector on enterprise policy issues is particularly dynamic and transparent as a result.

Private sector organisations such as the Federation of Chambers of Commerce, Palestinian Businessmen Association, Palestinian Trade Centre (Paltrade) and Palestinian Federation of Industries play a considerable role in shaping and implementing enterprise policy measures. Coordination between these institutions is led by an explicit private sector coordinating body: the Private Sector Institu- tions Coordinating Council.

Several frameworks for public–private consultations are in place. More than five high-profile meetings are convened each year, usual- ly involving the Prime Minister, Ministers for Economy and Finance, and other senior officials. Participants from the private sector and civil society organisations are invited and they are usually heavily represented. The agenda of the consultative meetings is circulated in advance and the private sector is given the opportunity to pro- vide inputs on the agenda and call for meetings. The minutes of the meetings are often published in the form of brochures, while main conclusions and recommendations are well covered in local media. Open invitations are also advertised in local papers.

The Palestinian Authority is planning to formulate a declaration on organising public–private dialogue and partnership at the Invest- ment Conference in Bethlehem (May 2008). This initiative under- scores the fact that continuous efforts are made by the Palestin- ian Authority towards real national partnership and cooperation between the public and private sectors.

Page

An interesting development over the last few years is the establish- ment of associations representing young and women entrepreneurs in a number of MED countries. For instance, the Egyptian Junior Business As- sociation (EJB) has over 420 members, including many from fast-grow- ing and innovative enterprises; it is playing a pivotal role in steering the

country’s economic reform agenda. Similar networks of young entrepre- neurs exist in Algeria (Centre des Jeunes Dirigeants), Tunisia (CJD) and Jordan (Jordan Young Entrepreneurs Association). Another important el- ement is the growing importance of women entrepreneurs’ associations such as the Jordan Forum for Business and Professional Women.

Indicator W AL EG IS LE JO MO PA SY TU MED 7.2.1. Advocacy function and governance rules 1 2.0 4.0 5.0 4.0 3.5 4.5 5.0 2.0 4.0 7.2.2 Provision of services by private sector associations 1 2.0 4.0 5.0 2.5 3.0 3.0 3.0 2.5 4.0 Overall weighted average for Subdimension 7.2 2.0 4.0 5.0 3.5 3.3 4.0 4.3 2.2 4.0 3.6

Table 19: Scores in Subdimension 7.2: Enterprise networks and business associations

7.4. Synthesis

In relation to public–private consultation frameworks and private sec- tor organisation development, the MED countries can be divided into three main groups.

• The first group is Morocco, Tunisia, Israel, Egypt and the Palestin- ian Authority, where there are structured consultation frameworks, a good practice of public–private dialogue at all levels, and strong and well-organised private sector organisations.

• The second group is made up of Jordan and Lebanon, where public–

private consultations are conducted more on an ad hoc basis, but there is a good network of private sector organisations.

• The third group is composed of Algeria and Syria. In these countries

public–private consultation practices are still limited, but evolving. Private sector representation is still delegated mainly to the chambers of commerce and industry structures and the ability of private sector organisations to autonomously advance policy proposals is limited. Over the medium term the countries belonging to the first group should aim to build a real public–private partnership through the en- tire cycle of policymaking, from elaboration to implementation and finally to evaluation and impact assessment. While consultations dur- ing the policy elaboration phase are satisfactory, there is room for im- provement in the joint development of indicators and mechanisms for monitoring project implementation (although Israel and Egypt are well advanced in this area). Finally it is important that public and private sec- tor representatives agree on the mechanisms to evaluate the costs and benefits of government policies and assess their impact on private sec- tor development, making sure that the results of analysis are used to improve the quality of the national enterprise policy. To this end, the prompt availability of statistical data (including observations at micro- level), company surveys conducted by independent and qualified in- stitutions, and policy reviews and programme evaluation exercises are very important tools to advance policy dialogue. These tools will ensure that the interests of all the different components of the enterprise pop- ulation are taken into consideration and, ultimately, improve the quality of government policy towards the enterprise sector.

For the second group of countries the foremost priority is to consolidate the practice of public–private dialogue in a well-structured consulta-

tion framework, making consultations a regular feature of the policy cycle. This will require involving the private sector organisations from the beginning of the policy elaboration phase and not (as often hap- pens now) asking for the views in the final approval phase. It will neces- sitate a regular consultation calendar and agreement on a system for the timely circulation of information. It is equally important that while fixing those rules and procedures, mechanisms are put in place to as- sure a good level of openness and transparency, with full disclosure of the consultation results.

Finally in the two countries of the third group, it is important that the governments send a clear signal that they believe in the value of consul- tations. They must go beyond the formalities of the tripartite meetings and open new channels of policy dialogue, inviting not only well-estab- lished institutions (such as the Chamber of Commerce and Industry) but all the key private sector stakeholders. The dialogue should concentrate on a few concrete cases (such as simplifying registration procedures or tax compliance requirements) in order to develop constructive consul- tation practices and produce first tangible results. The engagement of the private sector organisations and their ability to attract and mobilise their members is directly related to the likelihood of seeing results.

5.0 4.0 3.0 2.0 1.0 0.0 A lger ia

Egypt Israel

Lebanon Jor dan M or oc co Palestinian A uthor ity Syr ia Tunisia

Figure 16: Dimension 7 overall scores

For the three groups of MED countries, it is important to secure a high degree of openness and transparency in the consultation process. The enterprise population is rapidly changing, with the development of new sectors, a new class of entrepreneurs and the opening of the econ- omies. Governments have to make an effort to listen to the new entre-

preneurs and pay attention to the needs of the different components of the enterprise world (including the micro- and small enterprises). They have to promote an open policy debate and make sure that the consul- tation process is not monopolised by well-connected incumbents and insiders.

8.1. Introduction

Dimension 8 of the Euro-Mediterranean Charter for Enterprise under- lines the importance of business support institutions in the develop- ment of the enterprise sector. This dimension focuses on both the types and ranges of service provision (i.e. from common facilities to more technical services). It also underscores the importance of the quality of services available to meet the diverse needs of enterprises in their establishment and start-up phases. The ultimate test of the quality of services provided to enterprises is the willingness of firms to pay for these services. There are, however, a number of internationally recog- nised good practices in the design of business support which by default set parameters for evaluation. These good practices include but are not limited to:

• offering services throughout the territory to promote enterprise

development beyond the capital and main metropolitan areas;

• engaging in public–private partnerships to ensure sustainability

and buy-in from enterprises;

• personalising services to meet the unique needs of each enterprise; • using technology to bridge the information gap and advertise the

availability of services;

• monitoring and evaluating to improve existing schemes and better

adapt services to enterprises’ needs;

• investing in building infrastructure such as industrial parks/zones

and ready-to-use premises which are at the disposal of entrepre- neurs.

Business support schemes take a variety of forms and can be financed from different sources of funding. Whatever the design of a particular business support scheme, putting into practice the criteria listed above can help create an enabling environment for the enterprise sector in a given community. The right policy mix can increase the chance of sur- vival for a local entrepreneur, and in the best of cases can serve as a launching pad for new business activities.

8.2. Assessment framework

The assessment framework for Dimension 8 takes into account inter- nationally recognised good practice as outlined in the action lines of the Charter; however, it is also adapted to capture the various schemes and services which are offered in the MED region. Two types of schemes are generally available throughout the MED countries: those which seek to support new entrepreneurs and start-ups, and those which aim to provide services for established firms. The term ‘start-ups’ refers to newly created enterprises which have a limited operating history. These are typically observed in the MED region as family-run, micro- or small enterprises, many of them operating in low value-added service and light manufacturing industries. The second group refers to enterprises which already have a track record of opera- tion. Within this group of established businesses there are two catego- ries of firms: those demonstrating low growth and those demonstrat- ing high growth.

Dimension 8: Quality

business support schemes