Proceedings of 9th International Business and Social Science Research Conference
6 - 8 January, 2014, Novotel World Trade Centre, Dubai, UAE, ISBN: 978-1-922069-41-2
Issues of a New Governance of Public Policies to Develop
Sustainable Regional Investment in the Mediterranean
Alexandre Munoz
In the context of the modernisation and development of economies on the
southern banks of the Mediterranean Basin, numerous international
organisations provided advice in the selection of public policies. Being the
“alpha and omega” of the success of economic transitions, increased trade
and growth of foreign direct investment5 (FDI), openness and competition
are often presented as the main tools for economic success6.
While the aim of growth is undeniable, and sometimes even achieved,
current debates focus on the inclusivity of this growth. By inclusivity7,
economists mean the ability to offer the entire population the benefits of
economic growth in a productive system that can achieve a decent
standard of living. It also pertains to the inclusion of environmental and
regional challenges (in particular by including all populations spread across
regions that do not equally benefit from the fruits of growth).
It is therefore an economic development model that not only maximises
cost to profit ratio, but also caters to the expectations of the various
stakeholders by giving them an active role, and not merely the passive role
of redistribution a posteriori.
After highlighting the issues of inclusive growth in the Mediterranean zone,
we will focus on the territorial aspect of this growth. We will tackle the
public practices of support for investment, and more specifically the
aspects of the governance of these practices that enabled or hindered
territorial inclusion, before finally discussing what new approaches could be
implemented in the aftermath of the Arab Spring. We will evaluate the
practices by means of a territorial division of FDI in the regions concerned.
We will then explore in greater detail the managerial practices inspired by
New Public Management (NPM) and the foreseeable public governance
modifications to overcome the challenges faced by political and economic
transitions. We will insist upon the aspect of public policy management in
post-Arab Spring countries as a link between the national framework and
local action. We will develop our vision of Mediterranean territorial
management inspired by neo-liberal competition between territories. In
contrast to what people may believe, management and public policy
implementation issues are not mere technical issues; they also must take
ideological choices into account. The forms of public governance chosen
always bear economic and political models. The managerial practices and
public policies implemented in recent years in Mediterranean countries
reveal an ideology, the relevance of which today we must call into
question.
We may well ask what we mean when we speak of territorial management
and efficient management methods born out of New Public Management.
Is it not cause for reflection on what new practices could be implemented
that aim for more inclusion? Agencies from the Mediterranean zone and
the Persian Gulf in charge of territorial marketing as regards foreign
investors present their cases well. Lastly, we will discuss the proposals on
what sort of method of governance could go beyond the limits of this
territorial management.
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Department of Economy and Public Management, Aix-Marseille University, France,
Email: Munoz.alexandre@yahoo.fr