Business and Government: We need to talk

Mihai Razvan Ungureanu’s new Business Advisory Council looks very similar to the Business Advisory Group that meets every quarter with David Cameron in Downing Street – a small group of the country’s leading business men and women advising the Prime Minister on the big issues facing the country today. It’s the right format, because the big questions facing countries like Britain and Romania are ones where business can offer a lot of answers – how to create more jobs, how to build a truly competitive economy, how to boost imports and attract investment, how to succeed in a low carbon economy.

The relationship between government and business is hard to get right. Government officials should neither be too close to business, nor too distant. At a minimum, governments need to ensure that their actions are promoting economic growth, not obstructing it. That means getting regular feedback from business on the efficiency and transparency of government processes, and the likely impact of new legislation on investments and jobs.

But the relationship can be much more than that. At its best, government and business can be true partners for growth – exchanging ideas and experience and combining policies, plans and resources to restructure key sections like energy or health, and to promote key reforms in public administration and state-owned enterprises.

So this is a rich and urgent agenda. I hope Romania’s Business Advisory Council will bring a new quality to the dialogue between government and business.