'Governments bad for business' - expert

Governments are bad for business according to one expert speaking today at the DIFC Week conference who advocates liberalization of the markets and a greater focus on privatization over state control.

"The most important thing is to allow for more competition and not just a monopoly, it is to open the sectors," Dr Mohammed Omran told Arabian Business on the sidelines of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Week today. "It has been proven that the government is bad in running business," he said.

The Middle East region has been gradually opening it's markets up to both regional and global investors, but much more privatization is needed, said Omran, Vice Chairman of the Cairo and Alexandria Stock Exchanges.

"You do not need to just sell the ownership; you need to sell the control aspect," he said, specifically referring to the controlling stakes in companies like Emaar and DP World by the UAE government.

"The lessons we learn from academia is that you need to go to full privatization and not allow the government to keep what is called the 'golden shares.'"

"Keep the politicians away from the economic acticity," he added.

Omran advocates a hands-off role of the government, arguing that it is economists, not politicians, who are best equipped to handle matters of the economy.

"Let the private sector take the lead and leave the government to work as a supervisor and a regulator," said Omran, "but not to be involved in the economic activities of the country."

The need to move towards a complete privatization of state run enterprises is of particular importance in the MENA region, according to Omran, as it attempts to leverage its vast oil-driven liquidity to launch itself onto the world financial stage.

"If you talk about the gulf region, it's driven by the price of oil," Omran said.

"This is why you need to look to the economists. They're always encouraging the policymakers of this country to go further and diversify their economy and to allow the private sector to take a higher proportion of the economic activities."

Senior delegates, government officials and senior executives are on hand in Dubai this week to discuss the myriad opportunities and challenges for the region in the future.

The DIFC Week conference covers topics ranging from global warming to Islamic finance and runs from November 17-23.

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