Martin Nkematabong
6 July 2009
The chair of the association of local business people spoke at a press conference last week.
The president of the Association of Cameroon Entrepreneurs (GICAM) told journalists, last Friday, that the private sector might before long suffocate if local businessmen and women are not involved in the deliberations of the 2010 finance law and other major economic stratagems. Mr. Olivier Behle said policy makers have tactically scorned a myriad of complains filed in by businessmen, with regard to high importation duties, exorbitant value added taxes, bureaucratic administrative procedures, excessive bank charges, overpriced factors of production such as energy, communication, transportation, amongst others. "Decision makers disdain our ideas and opinions; they have traditionally looked upon the private sector as another world detached from the national economic mainstream," Mr Hehle lamented.
The speaker also noted that the policy makers have not engaged any significant measures to combat the global financial slowdown, which has steadily cramped many private enterprises, kicked thousands out of job and rendered the future uncertain. "We expect the state to device rapid strategies to reanimate the job market, protect local enterprises, create ample access to credit, guarantee job security for the informal sector, and create more public enterprises to boost employment, as well as encourage and sustain professional training.
The representative of the business community, however, said the GICAM is set to work hand-in-glove with officials of various ministries related to the economy, but also expressed fears that the current economic flux may delay if effective policies are not introduced to streamline public expenses, given that the 2009 budget was grossly tagged on the value of petrol, which has significantly dropped in the world market.
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