Alberto Bonadona in Pagina Siete:

The gaps toward development

In Bolivia there is still the real awareness of the gaps that separate the Bolivian society and its development. The General formulas that international officials or local economists give continues. Abound the recommendations about the need for more education, more investment, etc. etc., but does not say what type of education or where the investment should go.

These recommendations do not find clear guidelines which, I believe, must leave the State with respect to development goals whose precise definitions are needed to route any effort that should be undertaken, be it public or private. So, there are inarticulate impulses in a sector without it been complemented with another. The construction of roads, for example – possibly larger current governmental management development and that, with certainty, will leave its imprint on the economic history of the country–does not seem to respond to a master plan of development of the transport sector. The case that most stands out in this sense of dispersion of efforts is the road that divides the TIPNIS, which does not link the populations that inhabit it, nor does it integrate the activities of the region.

Another example, possibly the most visible, is that the Government is building soccer fields more by a political desire that seeks popularity than to meet a plan for Bolivia to address to achieve excellence in this sport. Of course something will get after both scattered spending but does not respond to a clear conception of what you want in a future short, medium or long-term. If you want that Bolivia is represented in sports, there is need for training centers that articulate with the international centers of education for the training of technical professionals, who should be awarded grants so they can learn global best practices that are needed.

What one perceives with the soccer fields is the development of the hydrocarbon sector. Another sector which is investing many resources, but does not abandon the improvisation. Contracted companies that hire others (case of the Argentine company contracted to hire the execution of the separation plants), the urea plant away from the markets and possibly with a product that commands prices lower than the raw materials to be used.

The need for a plan that integrates current development efforts – corrected – that should generate the effective development of the country, is a task of top priority if you want to wisely use the abundant resources that are now available to the Bolivian State. You must conceive with very specific definitions, for example, about how the current secondary education will provide University to go to the requirements of professionals, capable of directing potential new industries and train others in the areas of research that will be needed within a horizon of a plan of 20 or 25 years.

Millionaire resources are used in industries that require to import machinery that will help create jobs in their countries of origin ,without making appropriate comparisons with alternative uses of those resources. For example, you can think in the development of forestry and agro-industrial projects that would create greater number of jobs in the national economy and, especially, would broaden the production base of the country. Of course, to achieve this objective it is essential to unite education, research, industrial development and planning that the State should do. To close the large gaps of development should be more of what Bolivia has, what must be transformed and how to use their resources so that the returns are perceived internally and favoring large sectors of the population.

http://www.paginasiete.bo/2012-12-22/Opinion/Destacados/16Opi00122-12-12-P720121222SAB.aspx

If only current president and his acolytes would understand Alberto…