By Essam Amanallah Bokhari
RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin described countries that hire foreign experts and use their help to shape policies as weak. He was talking about the use of foreign experts to get advice about issues related to Russian sovereignty and its problems with neighboring countries. He was not against the use of foreign experts to implement development projects.
Former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad once said that all solutions offered by Western experts were the worst and led to disastrous results. In his opinion, those experts suggest solutions that increase debts and make the country borrow more. He said this following his negotiations with World Bank experts shortly before the collapse of the currency toward the end of the 1990s.
Why are so many countries against the use of foreign experts in such situations? One of the biggest problems facing many countries and business organizations around the world is heavy reliance on foreign advisory experts at the expense of local experts. Most foreign advisory companies offer their services for large sums of money, straining the budget of the ministry or organization that uses their services. Very often, the services offered in the form of recommendations are based on the opinions of mid-level leaders at the ministry or the organization. In many cases, ministries or organizations pay hefty amounts of money for tailor-made solutions.
It is sad to see some ministries and private sector businesses paying money to an international advisory company for solutions that have not been put into practice and have not been assessed on the ground to see if they work or not. Even sadder is the fact that the same mistake happens again and again every time a new minister is appointed.
Moreover, foreign advisory companies do not take any responsibility if their solutions and plans prove to be impractical. All the blame is placed on the ministry’s officials because of their failure to implement the solutions properly.
The use of services offered by international advisory companies can enhance the competitive edge of any country only if such use is supported by the empowerment of local experts.
