Bureaucracy is the formidable obstacle that investors face when they approach certain government agencies to complete their complex procedures, not to mention the indifference and apathy encountered by businesspeople who hope to launch a development project that will contribute to their country’s economy and generate the desired profits.
Bureaucracy takes many forms and varies depending on the department in question; its course is dictated by the mood of the employee handling the matter, who treats applicants as if they came from another planet. The situation is further complicated by the employee’s requests for paperwork and documents (by department) to the point where you have to return two or three times just to get a single piece of paper to complete the file. And often, bad luck prevents you from meeting the official, who gives various excuses (not present—on leave—in a meeting – busy), and so on…
Such tactics disrupt many transactions and cause severe financial and psychological losses, resulting in the loss of hundreds of millions in investments due to these obstacles placed in the way of investors. The national economy suffers exorbitant losses in the form of opportunity costs and property rights that can be affected by the length of the delay, leading investors to seek better conditions and causing investments to flee abroad, where they are welcomed in many countries.
As a result, investors seek alternative opportunities that steer them away from official channels and government officials, so they turn directly to real estate investment, which scoffs at all other investment enticements due to the ease of conducting business in this sector and the lack of extensive government reviews; after the initial approval, most or all of the work takes place in the market, But will all investors turn to the real estate market to escape the lengthy paperwork that fuels complaints and frustration among investors, stifles their spirit of creativity and initiative, and even makes government officials part of the problem—forcing them to follow a predetermined path from which they cannot deviate from, despite a margin of flexibility that allows for exploring new solutions.
We hope that government agencies will take an interest in citizens who endure the hardships of traveling, running around, and waiting, and treat them as human beings who wish to benefit from the rights of citizenship granted to them by the state —may God support it—so that obstacles are removed for him and its regulations are made more accommodating and flexible, enabling him to contribute to building his homeland. We also hope that the state will continue to expand e-government services to the investment sector so that businesspeople can complete all their transactions from their offices.
*Businessman and investor
