IBCE evaluates the decalogue of critical themes for the economy

If the recommendations of the ‘Decalogue’ had being transformed into good public policies, the investments, the production and employment would have increased. There would be less inflation and people wouldn’t want to leave the country. But, it didn’t happen that way. The ‘Decalogue ‘emerged from more than 20 Forums of the Civil Society Dialogues carried out by IBCE since 2006, which were timely sent to the Executive Power.
The IBCE says that ‘right prices’ (political), previous licenses, quotas and exporting prohibitions; in addition to subsidizing imports of what we can produce ourselves, are not fair, nor clever; and not even, responsible.
Following is the evaluation of the compliance of the ‘Decalogue’ until today:
1) PRIORITIZE A PRODUCTIVE AGENDA AS WELL AS COMPETITIVITY:
Unfortunately, since 2006, a political agenda takes precedence and the economic determinations were always linked to media calculations of political order, preventing that the good results of the macro economy (accomplished also by the ‘Neoliberal’ Governments) will result in more employment and wellbeing for the majority of the Bolivians. The logical step to take, based on the full respect of the Political Constitution of the State, Laws and derivative regulations, is that it would guarantee legal security and economical political measurements to eliminate the uncertainty, which plots against the productive activities and employment.

2) NOT TO DO POLITICS, AT EXPENSE OF THE ECONOMY: Other countries experience shows that the politics and the ideology should not be imposed on the economy and the trade, because walking through the routes of pragmatism, countries like China, Vietnam or Venezuela, make great deals with countries of market economies like the United States. The 4.800 millions of Dollars gained by Bolivia from exports in 2007- which could have been a lot more with good public policies- “turn pale” in front of the sales of 27.000 millions of dollars of Peru, or more than 65.000 millions of dollars gained by Chile, neighboring countries where their governments-beyond the ideology, of left, center or right- maximize their efforts to accomplish all their potential and create employment in a virtuosic relationship with all the countries. The economy sails with an ‘automatic pilot’ and the exports grow by ‘inertia’, thanks to the good prices at a world level, but the country could have done much more with better public policies. The 6%, growth pales compared to the 13% that Peru grew in May; or, with a PIB like the Chilean, that added more than 100.000 millions of dollars on 2007. ‘Fair prices’ (political prices); previous licenses, quotas and export prohibitions; on top of subsidies to the imports of what we can produce, aren’t fair, neither is smart, nor responsible.

3) FIGHT THE SMUGGLING AND RECUPERATE THE INTERNAL MARKET: So far we haven’t seen a true political will to face in depth actions against the mobs that finance those activities. Smuggling takes out more than 200.000 sources of employment to Bolivians and more tan 250 millions of dollars to the state, for taxes not collected. This has also to do with a narcotic trafficking which is at its peak. Likewise, with the permissive attitude towards the import of used clothes (business of more tan 40 million dollars per year): The Government had the opportunity to be forceful in stopping the illegal and disloyal competition that harms the Bolivian industry, but they did the opposite, allowing the smuggling to continue, camouflaging itself in shops, while the workshops of textile products are closing, or working beneath their capacity, or making their workers migrate to Argentina, Brazil, Spain, etc.

4) CONSOLIDATE THE USA MARKET FOR MANUFACTURES: Bolivian exporters can’t be depending on the periodic renovations of the ATPDEA preferences,as in the last two and a half years. Once more, we watch the ending of ATPDEA towards the end of this year, while the government seems to be doing everything in their power to make our country lose this treatment (with the constant rhetoric against the ‘North American Empire’; the increase of excessive coca crops ;the requirement of visa for US citizens ; the approach to Iran, a country internationally questioned; constant verbal attacks to the USA Ambassador in Bolivia; the joy showed for the expulsion of USAID from the Chapare; as well as the justification of the aggression to the USA Embassy, in La Paz.) Its up to the USA Congress the prolongation of the preferences after December of 2008, and that is related to what the Bolivian Government will do. In all circumstances, they have to not only to guarantee more than 40.000 jobs that depend on the ATPDEA, but to even increase the number, the best recommendation would be to start negotiations of a Commercial Agreement mutually satisfying for both parties.

5) GUARANTEE MARKETS FOR THE AGROEXPORTS: Until today there have not been any solutions on how the opening of the Colombian and the Peruvian market will face the American offer, once the TLC deal with the USA is in force. President Uribe , in his visit to Bolivia in March of 2006 , promised a joint action to analyze’ the oily paragraph of the TLC’ or to look for imaginative formulas so that Colombia keeps buying oil products from our country, nevertheless there has not been any advance on this matter. Regarding Peru, the government bilateral relationship is unnecessarily rigid. Venezuela retired from the CAN in April of 2006 and the Treaty of the Trade between Peoples (TCP) turned into a real trap, because of its bureaucratic obstacles.

6) MAKE GOOD DECISIONS IN INTEGRATION MATTERS: Despite of the recommendations of maintaining good relationships with all the countries and blocks, the government insists in being part of MERCOSUR, this will make Bolivia loose its condition as a full Member of the CAN, weakening it even more.On the other hand, the government has put in jeopardy a pending negotiation with CAN-EUROPEAN UNION, risking a market of 500 million persons. Political improvisations, like the ALBA or the TCP, beyond the good intentions, don’t leave good commercial interests for the country, as the numbers of the bilateral exchange show.

7) DO NOT BE DAZZLED WITH THE NATURAL GAS INCOME: We have to prepare the productive sector for a ‘lean period’ coming in the near future, causing the drop of mineral prices and raw materials and also the consumables that Bolivia exports. Believing that the natural gas export will solve all the problems is a huge mistake and will lead to a high social cost, for the resulting unemployment in the industrial and agricultural sectors. Therefore, it’s urgent ‘to build the systemic competitiveness of the country’ with public policies according to the demands of productive actors. The world is hungry, and it’s willing to buy food at high prices (that would hardly drop); besides it is eager for alternative energies, which has to lead the country to think seriously about biofuels; we have 15 millions hectares for agricultural production, and we only take advantage of less than 20 %.

8) ‘SOCIAL INCLUSION’ YES, BUT ALSO, ‘PRODUCTIVE INCLUSION’: The National Plan of Development suffers from many defects pointed out during its process of ‘socialization’ in the middle of 2006 , when it didn’t consider the productive actors (like the ‘middle’ and ‘big’ enterprises), having also an illness at birth: a strong orientation to a Socialist -Communal State, with subsidies and paternalistic, leaving aside the fact that the Berlin Wall was knocked down the year 1989, and that the Soviet Union no longer exists…. The Government pretends to do everything: Be the regulator and overseer, but also a strong employer, entering in the production and the marketing aspects , when it has been historically demonstrated that it is a bad administrator. Even today there are problems with YPFB, and the foreign investment for exploration is very low. To have ‘social inclusion’, there has to be ‘productive inclusion’, that is, encouragement for the private sector of all sizes so that they could do their thing: generate employment, and the State and the Government doesn’t have to be their competitor, but the one to encourage it. Only so, we will battle effectively the inflation and guarantee a good supply for the internal market.
9) WORKING ON EXTERNAL PROMOTION: One of the additional mistakes of the current Administration is the absence of business promoters- investments and exports- abroad, because of the scarce Commercial Attachés have practically been eliminated from the Bolivian Embassies; the lack of professional employees in this matter and the lack of a suitable budget for them, are the outcome of a poorly oriented ‘austerity policy’, a real ‘sin’ for a country that needs to capture external capitals and markets. What’s more, the Ambassadors and Consuls are dedicated to make political propaganda, instead of treading the recommended path of ‘Economic Diplomacy’.

10) DRASTIC IMPROVEMENT OF THEQUALITY OF PUBLIC MANAGEMENT: To maintain the unity of a country, economical and social, political stability, and to accomplish a substantial improvement of Bolivia’s competitiveness, are the tasks that have to do directly with public management. As long as the economical agents count with the adequate conditions to invest, produce and export, they would generate more employment for Bolivians. We regret that the country is in a process of deinstitutionalization, affecting the quality of the public administration that is the key to socioeconomic development. When a country loses credibility in their institutions, chaos is generated.
Santa Cruz, August 7th, 2008

Source:

http://www.ibce.org.bo/ibcedata/07082008/nacionales.asp?periodico=ibce.a...