The Road AheadThe feel-frustrated factor [Archives:2003/630/Business & Economy]

Raidan Al-Saqqaf
Why are some countries experiencing rapid economic developments while others are left behind? That is a result of the quality of the governance in these countries, i.e. the quality of the economic, social and political institutions, and in particular the law and order institutions.
Law enforcement is an important factor to consider before investing in business, particularly in a society like ours, where our cultural traditions of dominion and self-defense strongly support people being armed, especially if you are a Yemeni coming from a strong tribal background, because we, Yemenis, are fond of having guns. In fact, unofficial numbers claim that there are over 50 million pieces of weapons of different sizes and types in the hands of Yemeni civilians, this is such a scary reality reflecting that everybody around you have access to weapons, including your not-so-ethical competitors. As such, businesses have to preserve the right to remain alive and active, otherwise the sense of liberty is lost.
Additionally, our system of law enforcement and the police are not responsible for the safety or security of you or your business, their only obligation is only to protect “society”, whatever that means. This is such a disturbing factor for businessmen and their ability to do business in our economy, because stability is important for fueling our economic progress hence it encourages investments, both foreign and local. Furthermore, instability discourages foreign investments, chasing away migratory capital and in turn cause a drop in the value of the local currency. This usually happens in developing countries where there is too much corruption.
Poor governance and corruption are closely interlinked. Corruption undermines good governance, and bad governance produces corruption because the root causes of corruption lie in the absence of delegation of power and authority. However, our struggle against corruption has a limited success through disarming only peaceful citizens leaving violent and aggressive members of the society armed, and so providing for more instability in our society.
With regard to business, corruption occurs at points of economic interests; there are firms, pressure groups and citizens who try to maximize their gains by paying bribes, while public officials try to maximize their illegal earnings and wealth. Those who bribe may seek to avoid or reduce costs, through illegal reductions in taxes, limp enforcement of regulations, or dropping criminal charges, even if that included extortion or undue influence. Consequently, even if businessmen learn about the legal measures that can help them incase of such incidents, it is important for the government to eliminate corruption in the law & order institutions to facilitate justice and maintain the sense of liberty, otherwise, businessmen will only be more frustrated in trying to carryout business and invest in our country.
Endnote: We need better political stability through control of arms and elimination of corruption, especially within the law enforcement agencies for our economy to revive and grow.
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