Private Businesses Are Focal Points of Competitiveness Approach in Developing Nations
May 2003 — Speech given by Don Pressley (Booz Allen Principal) at the World Economic Forum's South-East Europe Meeting in Athens, Greece. The session was titled "Competitiveness and Entrepreneurship."
Pressley said individual businesses — and the private sector in general — should lead the way in productivity enhancement, wealth creation, and economic growth in developing countries. Prior to joining Booz Allen Hamilton, Pressley worked for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
The starting premise for the session was that South-East Europe should foster entrepreneurship more effectively. Other issues addressed included the role of entrepreneurs in job creation and wealth generation and how governments can instill a climate of entrepreneurship and steer investments into growth-oriented sectors.
Pressley said the goals and approaches of the competitiveness model he outlined during the session were based on Booz Allen work in Macedonia and Serbia, which is funded by USAID. "We are trying to turn competitiveness into reality, instead of just assessing or discussing it from a purely governmental or purely academic standpoint," he said. This approach is meant to "enable the government and private sector to work together as active partners, promoting a more competitive — and integrated — business and policy environment."
Another goal also is to improve the prosperity of every citizen over the long term. "More profitable local businesses provide more jobs, better wages, improved products, and contribute more to the community," explained Pressley.
The Approach — Work with "Clusters"
Pressley said Booz Allen takes a "hard-nosed," business-savvy approach that emphasizes working with groups of related firms and organizations — or clusters — to identify common problems and goals. It then helps implement an action plan addressing those problems and objectives.
Pressley believes a country's "most important asset is neither its financial nor natural resource endowments — but rather the quality of its workforce and the extent of trust, confidence, and innovation that is inherent to a country's citizenry." Therefore, a key to competitiveness is keeping it locally owned and driven. "We should help businesswomen and men help themselves."
Long-Term Process
A sustained commitment from funding institutions is critical to this kind of competitiveness approach. "Improving competitiveness is a long-term process and governments should recognize there is no 'quick fix,'" said Pressley.
Other speakers at the World Economic Forum-sponsored meeting included:
- Peter Sanfey — Senior Economist for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
- Christian Ketels — Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness at Harvard Business School
- Aldo Fumagalli Romario — Business Advisory Council to the Stability Pact for South-Eastern Europe
story posted June 3, 2003
