BBBF: Need to hear smaller voices
Friday, 30 November 2007
Syed Fattahul Alim
AFTER about 11 weeks of conceiving the proposal of forming a forum to increase rapport between the business community and the government, the idea has been finally put into practice. It may be recalled that at a dialogue between the business leaders and the Chief Adviser on September 5, the felt-need to float such a platform to facilitate government-private sector discourse more frequently and intensively, the thought of the 'Better Business Forum' was first articulated. So, it naturally raises the spirit to hear that such a forum under the name and style, Bangladesh Better Business Forum (BBBF), has finally been launched with the Chief Adviser as its chairperson. The 38-member forum so constituted also includes other advisers to the relevant ministries under the caretaker government, secretaries to different divisions of the government, leaders of different apex business bodies, representatives of leading business houses, eminent economists and leaders in the field of development activities.
Looking at the composition of the forum it can be said that it is a well-represented one where important stakeholders from the private sector, government and civil society will have the opportunity to exchange views and hold talks in order to address various issues coming in the way of the growth of business and investment as well as to promote the same. In a word, the forum will act as a hotline between the private sector and the government.
Under the dispensation of market economy, a government should be pro-market and pro-business. Ideally, within such an environment, the businessmen are not supposed to wait in long queue before government offices concerned to get their cases heard, issues resolved and interests served. On the contrary, it should be the job of a pro-business government to play a more proactive role to facilitate business in every possible way so that it may prosper fast taking the economy along a higher growth path. But in our particular case, so far, such expectation has been a mere luxury. Here the government, or to be more precise, the government officials, consider themselves as patrons and businesspeople as clients. So, like any patron, the government officials here play the top dog, while at the same time, treat the businesspeople as underdogs. This is a kind of mindset on the part of the government hierarchy, which is a carry over rooted in the colonial and feudal past when trade and commerce, compared to government jobs and other so-called dignified professions, were treated as not deserving much respect. Small wonder it was the businesspeople who were supposed to go after their bosses in the government and not the other way round.
Time has changed. And with it the attitude of not only the government, but also of the entire society towards trade and commerce, has changed. So, under this changed circumstances, the relationship between the political superstructure that controls society and the state and the community that plays the catalytic role to increase social wealth should also undergo necessary transformation. Sooner the political powers in office and their executives in the administration come to terms with this reality the better will be the economy served and grow along the desired course of development.
The above discourse on the relationship between business and government bureaucracy is very germane to Bangladesh context. For the common complaint of business operators and investors, whether local or foreign, is that the government offices take undue time to process their documents and papers. Such inordinate delay not only increases the costs of carrying out business but also puts a damper on the spirit of the investors and entrepreneurs.
The unnecessary delays in the passing of files and papers also create the scope for corruption. The situation induces both the government people and the business operators to adopt unfair means. The culture of corruption has further vitiated the environment of business. The 'better business forum' will have also to look into this perpetual drag on business that dissipates the potential of entrepreneurship day in, day out.
Now, who is really to blame for this warped relationship between the executive power and the business? In point of fact, it would be pointless to blame any particular quarter for this state of affair. When one is talking about big business in particular, it cannot be denied that in about every deal that sees the light of day, it is often a state of implicit consensus and marriage of convenience between the two that plays the major part in achieving any success.
Granted in the given situation, such give and take is unavoidable. But then what about the smaller operators and the budding entrepreneurs, who have neither any access to the nexus of consensus, nor would they afford it even if any such 'weighted opportunity' was held out before them?
In that case, if the better business forum is to help out the vast majority of smaller players in the trade and commerce regime, it must be able to develop a mechanism to hear their case and that, too, in a direct fashion. That is necessary, because in a place booming with louder voices, smaller voices are doomed to go unheard.
The present discourse started with the formation of the Bangladesh Better Business Forum (BBBF). So what will be its real function? Only to facilitate business and investment through close cooperation between the highest authorities of the government and the representatives of the big business and those of the various trade bodies and associations? Interestingly though, the high-ups in the government and representatives of the trade bodies and the big business had always been in close contact and one cannot say that there was ever any instance of little love lost between them. Even then, the BBBF will contribute towards bringing them further closer. This is undoubtedly not a small achievement in itself. But if the BBBF is to be worth its weight in gold, it will have to come out of its elitist straitjacket and broaden its reach and scope to listen to as well as address the needs of the smaller entrepreneurs. Who knows, given the necessary incentive, many of them may one day grow into still bigger business groups than the ones are now crowding the power lobbies!
AFTER about 11 weeks of conceiving the proposal of forming a forum to increase rapport between the business community and the government, the idea has been finally put into practice. It may be recalled that at a dialogue between the business leaders and the Chief Adviser on September 5, the felt-need to float such a platform to facilitate government-private sector discourse more frequently and intensively, the thought of the 'Better Business Forum' was first articulated. So, it naturally raises the spirit to hear that such a forum under the name and style, Bangladesh Better Business Forum (BBBF), has finally been launched with the Chief Adviser as its chairperson. The 38-member forum so constituted also includes other advisers to the relevant ministries under the caretaker government, secretaries to different divisions of the government, leaders of different apex business bodies, representatives of leading business houses, eminent economists and leaders in the field of development activities.
Looking at the composition of the forum it can be said that it is a well-represented one where important stakeholders from the private sector, government and civil society will have the opportunity to exchange views and hold talks in order to address various issues coming in the way of the growth of business and investment as well as to promote the same. In a word, the forum will act as a hotline between the private sector and the government.
Under the dispensation of market economy, a government should be pro-market and pro-business. Ideally, within such an environment, the businessmen are not supposed to wait in long queue before government offices concerned to get their cases heard, issues resolved and interests served. On the contrary, it should be the job of a pro-business government to play a more proactive role to facilitate business in every possible way so that it may prosper fast taking the economy along a higher growth path. But in our particular case, so far, such expectation has been a mere luxury. Here the government, or to be more precise, the government officials, consider themselves as patrons and businesspeople as clients. So, like any patron, the government officials here play the top dog, while at the same time, treat the businesspeople as underdogs. This is a kind of mindset on the part of the government hierarchy, which is a carry over rooted in the colonial and feudal past when trade and commerce, compared to government jobs and other so-called dignified professions, were treated as not deserving much respect. Small wonder it was the businesspeople who were supposed to go after their bosses in the government and not the other way round.
Time has changed. And with it the attitude of not only the government, but also of the entire society towards trade and commerce, has changed. So, under this changed circumstances, the relationship between the political superstructure that controls society and the state and the community that plays the catalytic role to increase social wealth should also undergo necessary transformation. Sooner the political powers in office and their executives in the administration come to terms with this reality the better will be the economy served and grow along the desired course of development.
The above discourse on the relationship between business and government bureaucracy is very germane to Bangladesh context. For the common complaint of business operators and investors, whether local or foreign, is that the government offices take undue time to process their documents and papers. Such inordinate delay not only increases the costs of carrying out business but also puts a damper on the spirit of the investors and entrepreneurs.
The unnecessary delays in the passing of files and papers also create the scope for corruption. The situation induces both the government people and the business operators to adopt unfair means. The culture of corruption has further vitiated the environment of business. The 'better business forum' will have also to look into this perpetual drag on business that dissipates the potential of entrepreneurship day in, day out.
Now, who is really to blame for this warped relationship between the executive power and the business? In point of fact, it would be pointless to blame any particular quarter for this state of affair. When one is talking about big business in particular, it cannot be denied that in about every deal that sees the light of day, it is often a state of implicit consensus and marriage of convenience between the two that plays the major part in achieving any success.
Granted in the given situation, such give and take is unavoidable. But then what about the smaller operators and the budding entrepreneurs, who have neither any access to the nexus of consensus, nor would they afford it even if any such 'weighted opportunity' was held out before them?
In that case, if the better business forum is to help out the vast majority of smaller players in the trade and commerce regime, it must be able to develop a mechanism to hear their case and that, too, in a direct fashion. That is necessary, because in a place booming with louder voices, smaller voices are doomed to go unheard.
The present discourse started with the formation of the Bangladesh Better Business Forum (BBBF). So what will be its real function? Only to facilitate business and investment through close cooperation between the highest authorities of the government and the representatives of the big business and those of the various trade bodies and associations? Interestingly though, the high-ups in the government and representatives of the trade bodies and the big business had always been in close contact and one cannot say that there was ever any instance of little love lost between them. Even then, the BBBF will contribute towards bringing them further closer. This is undoubtedly not a small achievement in itself. But if the BBBF is to be worth its weight in gold, it will have to come out of its elitist straitjacket and broaden its reach and scope to listen to as well as address the needs of the smaller entrepreneurs. Who knows, given the necessary incentive, many of them may one day grow into still bigger business groups than the ones are now crowding the power lobbies!