The main private sector mouthpiece, the Joint Economic Council (JEC), is urging the government to speed up the deregulation process and do more to cut down bureaucracy in business. Clear rules should enhance the visibility of entrepreneurs and help place the economy on a higher growth trajectory, they say.

The subject was high on the agenda of Saturday’s meeting between government and the business community representatives at Domaine Les Pailles. The JEC complained that a number of industries are still under the clutch of heavy-handed regulations that end up doing a lot of harm to entrepreneurial initiatives. The workings of some key public institutions involved in permit sanctioning and business facilitation should be reassessed accordingly. Decision points should be reduced to a bare minimum and the discretionary powers of these organizations should be scaled down. “We are not exactly on the same wavelength on this regulation issue. We are however very keen to look into the matter. We want businesses to face the least administrative bottlenecks possible”, the prime minister asserts.

The government however has already embarked itself on a massive red tape cutting programme since last year. Several reforms from business licensing and facilitation to building permits and labour laws have been or are being implemented. But there is still more to be done. The deputy prime minister, Pravind Jugnauth, is chairing a high-powered committee that has the task to bring about the much-needed changes.

<B>One-stop-shop</B>

Many public institutions are being urged to review the way they operate. The Board of Investment (BOI) should first and foremost enhance its role as one-stop-shop and assist investors in overcoming administrative hurdles. Ministers want all the agencies involved to be more investment-friendly. Lately, a couple of big projects, namely in the Integrated Resort Scheme sector, have had to face unnecessary bureaucracy much to the annoyance of the government.

But institutional and legal changes are only part of the proposition. The JEC is actually advocating a new approach to economic development. The traditional approach, i.e., to earmark a particular sector and devote a tailor-made incentive package to it, is outdated. A new model that promotes several opportunities based on a common incentive platform should be pursued. “The new activities will be quite small in the beginning but there will be scope in plenty. We cannot expect one single industry that will come up and create large number of jobs”, argues Arif Currimjee, the JEC chairman.

<B>Attract Foreign Direct Investment</B>

Economic activities need to be revived so as to sustain yearly growth rates of 7 to 8%. This revitalization should come from a large variety of sources rather than a few hubs only. In the same vein, there should be a new focus on efforts to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). “We should lay greater emphasis on attracting foreign companies of small and medium size instead of focusing on the big multinationals”, says Arif Currimjee.

A 7 to 8 % annual gross domestic product growth is the only way to maintain a high level of employment and uphold a good standard of living for the people.