Bensaci: “Numerous Companies Have Turned Into Additional Burden On Public Treasury”

The new head of the National Consultative Council for the Development of Small and Medium Enterprises, Mr. Adel Bensaci, revealed an initial list of 300 public institutions, which are supposed to be included in the list of institutions concerned with the partnership between the public and private sectors, due to the dire financial conditions they are facing, and explained that some of these Institutions do not exceed an area of 5,000 square meters, and in recent years have turned into an additional burden on the public treasury, as they drain more than they produce.

In a statement to “Echorouk”, Mr. Bensaci praised the decision to open public institutions that face financial difficulties for partnership to the private sector, according to the new draft law under preparation, which will allow finding solutions for all these institutions that in recent years have “taken more than they have given”, as he expected that the legal legislation and the list of institutions concerned with privatization will be ready by next September, so that the process can begin before the end of the year, due to the urgency of the situation.

He stressed that the most important sectors that are considered a fertile field for public-private partnership are mechanics, food industry, manufacturing industries and energy such as electricity and solar energy.

Our interlocutor explained that in the next stage, the policy of discrimination between the private and public corporation must be eliminated. The difference between them, according to him, must disappear realistically through all transactions. He also called for expediting the opening of the capital of public companies to the private sector, and this is related to those that face financial difficulties.

He also highlighted the importance of adopting a strict conditions book to prevent the recurrence of the “savage oligarchy” scenario that held sway during the past years, by compelling the partner from the private sector, for example, to retain net workers without layoffs and not to dispose of equipment and machinery with the possibility of expanding or changing the activity if necessary.

Mr. Adel Bensaci further stressed that a number of businessmen and private investors have been facing for years the problem of the absence of industrial real estate and a crisis in its supply, as well as other logistical problems that can be solved by concluding a partnership with the public sector, especially since, on the other hand, there are more than 300 public companies facing stifling financial problems.

Their workers receive their salaries from public treasury funds, which raises paradoxes in bulk, and dictates the need to rush to frame the process of partnership between the public and private sectors.

The government had set a legislative framework for the partnership between the public and private sectors at the end of last April, allowing to benefit from the management capabilities of the private sector and ensure the effectiveness of services and their provision on time and with the required quality.

It was also decided, he added, to establish a committee with the Prime Minister or the head of government under the name of a national partnership committee involving the public and private sectors, while stating that “the current difficult situation, which is characterized by a scarcity of resources, requires a qualitative leap in order to develop the financing needs directed to infrastructure projects, by setting up financing mechanisms that alleviate pressure on the state budget.