Industry-Specific Policy Reform

The objective of IFC Advisory Services' Industry-Specific Policy Reform program is to strengthen market signals by improving policies to make it easier for existing and potential entrepreneurs to exploit new investment opportunities.

Industrial diversification tends to be weak in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). In many countries, several industries with good export and growth potential remain small and informal, unable to compete internationally and attract sizable domestic or foreign investment capital due to obstacles, such as unfriendly business regulations and inefficient public services.

IFC Advisory Services in the Middle East and North Africa engages in a select number of key industries to help governments identify and remove these constraints through targeted reform efforts.


What Does the Program Offer?

• Works with industry groups and civil servants to design business-friendly regulatory policies at the industry level
• Identifies advisory services needs to be provided by IFC Advisory Services in MENA or other donors
• Trains civil servants to build industry-supportive regulatory capacity
• Networks with industry partners from developing and developed countries
  

Expected Outcomes and Impact

We expect to streamline industry-specific regulations in collaboration with industry representatives and the public sector. The goals are best-practice legal frameworks, transparent regulations, and simpler administrative procedures that make it easy to establish private investment projects.

We also expect that productive and competitive firms will be created in restricted industries, diversifying and strengthening economic growth, generating employment and income opportunities.

Key Achievements

From the inception of IFC Advisory Services in MENA to the end of fiscal year 2007, the program has been successfully launched and:

• Mining Policy Reform projects in Egypt and Yemen have been initiated and completed the administrative, legal, fiscal and institutional review phase
• Initial assessment work for the Morocco Agribusiness / Technical Standards project is ongoing

Eligible Partners & Clients

Our primary partners are government ministries and individual regulatory authorities. IFC Advisory Services also works closely with industry associations or representative groups of individual industries to help shape these reform initiatives.

When designing industry-specific advisory services projects, IFC Advisory Services' Investment Climate business line works closely with colleagues from the Corporate Advice business line, as well as investment operations, including specialized industry departments. Synergies resulting from a combination of policy reform with specialized assistance to firms in the industry, as well as potential investment projects are likely to enhance the overall impact of these engagements.

Wherever possible, IFC Advisory Services in MENA searches for close collaboration with other donors to maximize the availability of resources and coordinate advisory services. Especially in areas where additional resources are needed to develop a sustainable regulatory framework, IFC Advisory Services also aims at developing opportunities for future World Bank lending operations.

Examples of Projects

For additional information contact:

Frank Sader
Senior Operations Manager
E-mail: fsader@ifc.org

Sammar Essmat
Operations Officer
E-mail: sessmat@ifc.org