Domestic Commerce - The Missing Link

Participants in the workshops noted the following factors as constraining domestic commerce: Lack of educated and trained human resource. Education system not delivering the kind of manpower required. Lack of physical infrastructure. Poor road network. Limited, expensive and uncertain electricity. Frequent changes in Government policies. Fundamentalists can impact commerce without threat of state reprisal. Lack of copy right protection. Inadequate property rights. Acquiring land very difficult, uncertain and time consuming. Inequitable tax laws and unnecessary tax burdens. Problems in securing financing and credit. Quality control and inadequate domestic standards. Poor quality of IT infrastructure limits management control for extensive branching. Weak contract enforcement hinders supply chain development and delegation to middle management. Outmoded and non-professional urban zoning very unfriendly to commercial development. High commercialization fees a tax on commercial development. Difficult land acquisition procedures for commercial purposes. No zoning for warehousing and distribution with the result that warehousing continues to be done in dilapidated old housing. State favors industry with industrial parks, no commercial or retail parks. Government controls large tracts of prime commercial land inhibiting city center development. This land must be privatized. Retail zoning in housing projects is too small to allow shopping mall and large warehousing development. No city centers are allowed to develop as dense mixed use areas. No tourism to support retail development. No hotel infrastructure to allow a distribution network to develop. Poor system of tracing and penalizing smugglers and fraudulent parties. Lack of cultural events to present a softer picture of our society.