Membership of the World Trade Organization for the Kingdom is contingent on reform and modernization of administrative procedures and government itself; a pressing demand that has to be met. This does not mean that there are no other important requirements to be fulfilled, but reform of government institutions can play a vital role in shaping the country’s economic performance and so is particularly important.
In other words, we may not need to worry too much about the possibility of the private sector failing to rise to the challenges posed by the Kingdom’s accession to the WTO.
But the civil service in most countries of the world is staggering under the heavy burden of a deeply entrenched bureaucracy that seldom changes or gives room to progress.
Such a kind of administration may not be suitable for a new era of economic performance. Because government administration is not focused on making profits its performance cannot be compared to the private sector.
This situation represents a real dilemma for societies where bureaucracy reigns supreme but which seek to integrate into a much freer world economy. This has led to calls from all over the world for what is known as mini-government, a term meaning cutting down the size of government bodies to the level where they are more flexible and able to address only urgent needs.
The Kingdom has started a restructuring process within the government apparatus in preparation for entering the WTO that is designed to minimize the shortcomings resulting from such transformation.
This is a move dictated by the needs of our time. The Kingdom cannot live in isolation while the world around it keeps changing fast. The challenge ahead of us is to maintain that momentum and work hard to make the government apparatus capable of meeting the future needs of a world economy that knows no geographical boundaries.
