Place Based Economic Development with Simon White

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Simon White

Simon White

Simon White is a specialist in place-based economic development, private sector and business development and business environment reform.

The perspectives of three youth entrepreneurs

The Centre of International Private Enterprise (CIPE) has just produced a lovely collection of three essays by youth entrepreneurs from its CIPE’s 2012 International Youth Essay Competition. Each essay presents a perspective of a young person on youth entrepreneurship, social enterprises and the society they live in. Writing in

UK Government’s Better Regulation Manual and Red Tape Challenge

In July 2013 the UK Department for Business, Innovation and Skills published the Better Regulation Framework Manual. This manual is intended for policy-makers, as well as economists, social researchers, lawyers and those specialising in better regulation. It contains guidance for those who are involved in developing or implementing policies that

Lebanon's business environment

A perspective on Lebanon’s business environment that draws largely from the World Bank’s Doing Business indicators: “The red lines in the Lebanese flag extend to its business environment“. In a linked article, the broader concerns of political instability are raised. It brings up the common question regarding the

"How do we get government to listen?"

Last week I was in Gaborone at a meeting of representative of the Botswana business community. I have been commissioned by the Botswana Confederation of Commerce, Industry and Manpower (BOCCIM) to help them prepare a Business Advocacy Agenda and Strategy. While we began prioritising the advocacy items that BOCCIM wanted

New guidelines on industrial policy and business environment reform

The Donor Committee for Enterprise Development (DCED) has just published guidelines for donor and development agencies on how to complement business environment reforms with industrial policy. I was the principal author of this document, which was based on a background paper and on broad consultation with members of the DCED

Vibrant business membership organisations: The Briarpatch Network

Back in the late 1980s I had the pleasure of working with Roger Pritchard who was visiting Australia from San Francisco where he lived and worked. Roger is a business consultant who spoke eloquently about ethical business and the pursuit of businesses that reflect ones own interests and vocation. He

Re-regulating business licensing in South Africa

In March and April this year, the South African Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and its minister, Rob Davies, found themselves in a storm of protest over the attempt to introduce a new law on business licensing – Government Notice 231 of 2013. Critics of the draft bill complained it