Policy conclusions Prepared by: dr mohamed hassan

facts  Globalization  Value chain  Upgraded capabilities  Competitive forces

 policy makers have a role to play in supporting upgrading efforts. But this is a role which is best served when policies support and complement firm-level activities,rather than forcing firms into particular directions.  Policy that response at the local, the national or the international level.  And,finally, in so far as SMEs are concerned these supportive policies may be aimed either directly at SMEs, or at firms which are buyers from or sellers to SMEs,.

The Importance of partnerships

 UNIDO’s experience is to bring together all appropriate stakeholders in multi-sector partnerships. all stakeholders in an industrial sector work together to restructure and improve the overall performance of the industry.

 inter alia, the government, final- goods producers and first tier suppliers, industry associations,research institutions and civil society organizations (CSOs), especially those promoting corporate social responsibility and triple- bottom-line accounting systems.

It brings together the expertise and experience of key players in a particular industry, thereby enabling the comparative advantage of each partner to be brought into play.

 The Government provides political endorsement and recognition for the programme as well as financial support as a manifestation of national ownership.  Industrial Corporations provide inputs on technical and managerial know-how and skills relevant to the sector,introduce aspects of international best practice.  access to top international engineers, who help to design and implement the enterprise-oriented shop-floor training events,  train national engineers.  This helps to ensure a sustainable increase in competitiveness for the participating SMEs.

 Civil Society Organizations play a dual role.  National CSOs represent the membership of the target sector and are therefore crucial for the sustainability of the programme.  International CSOs ensure that “proper investments” are made within the context of a positive public policy dialogue with the partners  Research Institutions  expose managers of participating enterprises to international best practices and provide technical training and diagnostic studies at the enterprise level.

 The target SMEs not only receive shop-floor training but participate actively in the development of the partnership. As they are the ultimate beneficiary, it is imperative to integrate them into the partnership process at the earliest stage.  Multinational Organizations play an important role in identifying potential partners, negotiating agreements between the various partners and serving as a central information node for the programme to ensure that relevant information and data is distributed to the partners. Further, they also contribute their special expertise in various development-related fields. Ref. Nation's Restaurant News, March 23, 1998 by John R. GrahamNation's Restaurant NewsMarch 23, 1998John R. Graham