Experts call for greater transparency and public-private partnerships to ride out crisis

The forum, organised by the Dubai School of Government (DSG), included two panel discussions on 'Public Policy in the Current Downturn: Constraints and Opportunities.'

Participants at the discussions included cabinet ministers, heads of private institutions and industry professionals from across the Arab world.

Dr Maher Al-Mujtahed, Secretary-General of the Syrian Cabinet of Ministers, Dr Zuhair M'dhaffar, Minister Delegate to the Prime Minister in charge of the Civil Service and Administrative Development, Tunisia, and Julian Hawkins, Senior Partner at Deloitte, were among those that brought their perspectives to the table.

Opening the panel discussion, Nabil Alyousuf, Vice-Chairman, DSG Board of Trustees, pointed out all the oil and non-oil exporting Arab countries have been affected and public policy reforms as well as other relevant measures actions are being assessed with a view to upgrading the overall performance of the economy.

Alyousuf said:

"In light of these challenges, the way we allocate and leverage our resources to maximize our returns has become critical."

Dr Maher Al-Mujtahed said, "Decentralisation, simplified procedures, transparency, prudent fiscal management, public-private partnerships, and the active role of NGOs are some of the key areas that will significantly contribute to economic development. The concept of good governance is not new, with most countries making progress in the Arab world. What we need is integration of our efforts."

Al-Mujtahed added, "The world has faced so many challenges starting with the Great Depression. Each crisis has thrown complex challenges on the economic and political fronts. Challenges in HR have been pronounced while the implications on the financial markets have been enormous. This has increased the need to re-prioritise the role of governments, which may take a new dimension in the future."

Al-Mujtahed continued, "The world today is a global village with closely integrated financial markets. Governments need to focus on good management and ensure the integrity of officials while implementing their public policies. This is the time we need to foster trust between governments and the public, and focus on transparency to take societies and economies out of the crisis."

During the discussion, Dr Zuhair M'dhaffar pointed out the Tunisian government has reduced VAT as an incentive to increase exports and boost trade. The country has also increased its budget for the year by 20%.

M'dhaffar said, "We cannot go back to a protectionist phase and be socialist in our outlook. There has to be a balance between globalization and ensuring the domestic industries are not hurt."

Julian Hawkis said, "The governments have a key role to play in managing the crisis and there are decisions they need to take. Some of these include aligning policy changes with growth-oriented programmes and putting in place adequate checks and balances while implementing the hard decisions."

Dr Tarik Yousef, Dean of Dubai School of Government, said, "We are grateful to the speakers for offering their insights and recommendations. The panel was unanimous in asserting government intervention to the extent required, but agreed that it has to be only regulatory and not restrictive in approach. The need for the development of human resources was stressed by all speakers, who agreed that greater human capital is an imperative need for creatively overcoming the current challenges."

The half-day conference came as part of DSG's ongoing efforts to bring authentic insights into the problems facing the Arab world. The panel discussions were designed to assess the constraints and opportunities for government action in fiscal management, economic planning and policy reforms.