AN interesting debate unfolded during the International Monetary Fund (IMF)/World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington, DC, last week.

It had to do with the issue of bureaucracy, which has been placed in the national spotlight here in recent times by Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness.

During that discussion in Washington, Mr Federico Sturzenegger, Argentina’s minister of deregulation and state transformation, disclosed that his country is rebuilding its economy by focusing on macroeconomic stability and removing burdensome regulations.

Mr Sturzenegger argued that macroeconomic stability, deregulation, and economic freedom are critical for long-term economic success, particularly for Latin America and the Caribbean which have struggled with low growth rates for decades.

The seminar also heard from Ms Rachel Reeves, Britain’s chancellor of the exchequer, who said that the United Kingdom, too, is pursuing deregulation by cutting administrative burdens by 25 per cent, reforming pension schemes to unlock larger investments, and facilitating private sector-led growth.

“It’s the role of Government to remove the barriers that have held back investments for too long,” Ms Reeves said as she acknowledged that in her country over-regulation, especially in the environmental sector, has been stalling critical infrastructure and renewable energy projects.

The discussion is timely, as it is obvious that a number of countries are confronted by the problem.

Last November, after Prime Minister Holness raised the issue in a policy address to the nation, saying that he intends to embark on a national drive to reduce bureaucracy, we commended him, but made clear our intention to hold the applause until we actually see forward movement on this plan — because successive governments have, for decades, promised to deal with this issue without action to match.

In January this year, Mr Holness gave us a reason to hope when he announced the establishment of a Speed Task Force that, he said, will work to reduce bureaucracy in the public sector.

The initiative, he told the Jamaica Stock Exchange Investments & Capital Markets Conference, is part of the Government’s broader strategy to foster a more efficient business environment and stimulate economic growth through greater private sector investment.

It’s early days yet but we anxiously await the recommendations that the task force will submit to counter what many investors agree are obstacles to progress.

As we pointed out before, bureaucratic red tape has been like a millstone around the neck of this country for decades.

That painful reality was highlighted last week during a special economic zone (SEZ) investor briefing which heard that while the SEZ programme has gained traction on paper, some investors point to structural problems that continue to frustrate their experience.

“The biggest challenge our clients continue to report is bureaucracy,” Ms Kelli-Dawn Hamilton, CEO of the Jamaica Special Economic Zone Authority, said. She explained that delays are often tied to a lack of coordination among government agencies, particularly Tax Administration Jamaica and the Ministry of Finance, both of which are critical in the processing of SEZ applications.

We are told that a new digital platform is now being developed to streamline these procedures, with full roll-out targeted for the third quarter of this year.

While encouraged, we continue to wait with bated breath.